This Contabo review and Contabo VPS review seeks to explore this popular web hosting company and how beneficial it could be for you.
Contabo is a German company that provides various web hosting services. Being German however doesn’t restrict them to their geographical location, they’ve been at this since 2003 and are very famous worldwide. The brand is particularly popular for their Contabo VPS solutions which are priced at competitive rates comparatively. These Contabo VPS solutions are essentially dedicated resources within a virtual environment that gives you full control of their Server without the need for expensive hardware.
If you intend to start out with a web hosting company or maybe you wish to switch to another, this Contabo review and Contabo VPS review will provide you with our first-hand experience with them, and if Contabo might be the right choice for you.
An Insight into Web Hosting
Firstly, if you are a beginner, the process of getting your website online can be challenging if you do not have the right guidance. This is very crucial to the success of your online project and journey. Now, this process involves a number of steps which we’ve outlined below;
We begin with the determining of what type of Web Hosting Solution suits your needs. There are Shared Web Hosting Solutions, VPS Hosting Solutions, Dedicated Server Hosting Solutions, and Cloud Hosting Solutions. Among these, Shared Web Hosting Solutions are the least preferred as your website will compete for resources with other websites that are in the same Web Hosting Solution from the Provider. But if you are on a lean budget, you can start out with this, and when your website begins to grow you can then upgrade to the other Hosting Solutions.
Next, Reliability and Uptime are very essential considerations to make. You need to have a Hosting Provider that guarantees and delivers high uptime (ideally 99.9%) because downtimes every now and then will impact negatively on your online presence and reputation.
Server Performance is another important consideration. You do have to investigate your potential Hosting Provider’s Server infrastructure. Essentially, modern hardware with sufficient Server resources such as CPU, RAM, and SSD storage are essential for quick website loading times.
Similar to Server Performance, Data Center Locations are also worth considering as you need Data Centers that are close to your target audience. This proximity helps to improve their user experience on your website and its overall performance.
Control Panel and Ease of Use provide you with managing your Web Hosting Solution. Essentially, this gives you access to use a Graphical User Interface to manage the service. Also, you can use remote tools like Putty and SFTP to connect and manage the service with Command Lines.
Once your website is online, it has the potential to grow and should grow. Now, Scalability becomes necessary and your potential Hosting Provider should offer this as it would help you to easily upscale to a higher plan or service as your website grows from one level to another.
Backup and Restore Options are features you cannot neglect. A Web Hosting Provider must provide Automatic Backups, Manual Backups, and Easy Restore options. Evidently, this is very crucial to protecting and restoring your website in an eventuality.
Add-on Services are extra features that you may benefit from. Some of these are Domain Registration, SSL Certificates, Email Services, Website Builders, and CDNs.
The Security Measures that your potential Web hosting Provider puts in place are crucial. These may include Malware Scanning, DDoS, and Firewall protection, as well as SSL.
Moving further, Technical Support and Documentation are needed. The level of technical support that would be given to you as well as documentation, a knowledge base of tutorials and resources available, would help you make the most of your hosting services and tackle some issues by yourself.
Lastly, Pricing, Terms of Use, and Money-Back Guarantee are things you should look at. Speaking of Terms of Use, you do have to ensure that your website’s content and objectives are in line with them.
When all these are in place, you can then begin to search for a Domain Name that resonates with your Brand, Company, or Online Presence and you can easily do this with Namecheap or other Registrars available.
With this understanding, let’s now go into this Contabo Review and Contabo VPS Review to see what the brand is able to deliver. We’ll begin with the Contabo VPS Server, and then speak about the brand and other services.
Contabo VPS Review
Contabo provides Virtual Private Servers (VPS), Virtual Dedicated Servers (VDS), and Bare Metal Dedicated Servers. Under each of these, you will find different Servers to choose from with different capacities and prices which we show much later in this review. Now, for our Contabo VPS Review, we went for the Cloud VPS S.
Getting started is pretty straightforward. Simply click on the Contabo VPS Server you want, Select your Payment Duration (12 Months or 1 Month), the Server Region you want, the Storage Type (SSD or NVMe), and your preferred Image (Ubuntu, Windows Server, cPanel, Cent OS & RHEL Variants, Plesk, and Custom Images). Then, you have to choose a Username and Password, how many IP Addresses you want, and any Add-Ons such as Object Storage, Backup Spaces, Server Management, Monitoring, and SSL. Any Add-Ons you choose for the Contabo VPS will add to the overall setup fee and price, but the default services that you see on screen will be just fine. When you have completed the transaction, Contabo will then provision your Server and send you an email with your Login Credentials. Once logged in, the interface is as shown below.
It’s worth mentioning that we’ve had this Contabo VPS for two years and we have two WordPress websites set up in it, and just one IP Address purchased. So, this is a great benefit since you do not have to pay for a separate Hosting for other websites you may want to have. You can add as many websites or Domains as you want, provided your Server has enough capacity to handle all of them. However, you can always upgrade your Contabo VPS at any time to cater to all your site’s requirements.
The various options you see in the screenshot above help you manage your Contabo Account and your Contabo VPS. You will be able to restart the machine, perform Operating System reinstallation, set up DNS Zones, manage your Payments and Billing, IP addresses, APIs, and a whole lot more.
Features of Contabo VPS
For our Contabo VPS, our Operating System is Ubuntu Linux 20.04.4, an AMD EPYC 7282 16-Core Processor, 4 Cores, LAMP for Administration, and 200 GB SSD Storage Space. So, to get our sites up and running, we set up Webmin/Virtualmin and proceeded accordingly. This is a different interface from the previous screenshot above. This is a Web-based Control Panel primarily for Server Administration and Configuration. It gives you a more robust manageability and configuration of your Contabo VPS, as well as setting up your website. There are others you can choose like the very popular cPanel, and this depends on your preferences.
The interface as you see shows you a whole lot of information regarding your Contabo VPS. At the top left-hand side, you have your Domain Name, and if you click on the arrow, you will see the second website domiciled in this Contabo VPS.
Next, you have a Virtual Server Summary. This Tab shows you Domain Names, when they were created, the Administration Username, Administration Group, Total Server Quota, IP Addresses Shared by all Servers, your Account Plan, Email tied to the Server, Home Directory, Domain ID, SSL Expiry, and Domain Registration Expiry.
Create Virtual Server is the next Tab and from here you can set up other Servers within this Contabo VPS to be used for your other websites. Then, Edit Virtual Server and Edit Users enable you to change your Server’s Resource Usage and User Access respectively.
Moving on to Edit Mail Aliases, you will find abuse, hostmaster, postmaster, webmaster, and WordPress aliases to edit accordingly. Under Edit Databases, you see your sites’s Databases and you can edit Usernames and passwords, Import Database, view and change Remote Hosts, and MySQL Server Hosts.
Install Scripts allows you to see all installed scripts, available scripts, and install an un-supported version that hasn’t been tested by Virtualmin. Then, File Manager contains a vast array of Files and Directories for your website that you can view and edit as you choose.
Terminal provides you with a Command Line Interface just like Putty so that you can from here, connect and manage your Server with Commands.
Administration Options gives you the options to change Disk Usage, Edit Owner Limits, Edit Resource Limits, Exclude Directories and DBs, Limit Sub-Servers, Manage Extra Admins, Re-Send Signup Email, and Switch to the Server’s Admin.
Next, you have Server Configuration. Here you find Change Domain Name for your Contabo VPS, Change IP Address, Clone Virtual Server, DNS Options, DNS Records, Edit Proxy Website, Email Settings, Move Virtual Server, PHP Options, Proxy Paths, SSL Certificates, Spam and Virus Delivery, Transfer Virtual Server, Website Options, and Website Redirects.
Disable and Delete is the next Tab. Here, you can delete a virtual server, disable a virtual server, and disassociate features.
Logs and Reports are essential areas to always look at in your Contabo VPS. Here, you will find AWStats Report, Apache Access Logs, Apache Error Log, Check Connectivity, Search Mail Logs, Virtual Server Action Log, and Webalizer Report.
Under Services, you find AWStats Configuration, Configure SSL Website, Configure Website, DAV Authentication, DAV Shares, Edit Web Pages, PHP 7.4 Configuration, Preview Website, Protected Directories, and SpamAssassin Configuration.
The next Tab you find is Search to enable you find anything easily. Then, System Settings allows you to view and edit Account Plans, Bandwidth Monitoring, Cloudmin Services Client, Database Servers, Feature and Plugins, Re-Check Configuration, Re-Run Install Wizard, Reseller Accounts, Script Installers, Server Templates, Upgrade Virtualmin Pro, and Virtualmin Configuration.
System Customization helps you tailor your Contabo VPS with Custom Fields, Custom Links, Custom Shells, and Global Variables. Next, you have Addresses and Networking to enable you Change IP Addresses, Cloud DNS Providers, Dynamic IP Update, and Shared IP Addresses.
The Email Settings Tab gives you access to Cloud Mail Providers, DomainKeys Identified Mail, Email Greylisting, Email Server Owners, Mail Client Configuration, Mail Rate Limiting, Mailbox Cleanup, New Reseller Email, Secondary Mail Servers, Spam and Virus Scanning.
The Limits and Validation Tab shows you Check Disk Quotas, Disc Quota Monitoring, FTP Directory Restrictions, and Validate Virtual Servers. The remaining Tabs you find are Add Servers, Backup and Restore, List Virtual Servers, Dashboard and System Statistics.
Performance of Contabo VPS
The performance of our Contabo VPS has been nothing short of expectations. With regards to Speed and Latency, the user experience on our websites is very fluid with high search engine rankings.
Uptime is another pass mark for Contabo as we’ve had 99% availability so far. Also, maintenance exercises have been carried out on their Servers in different parts of the world, and we were sent emails to this effect even though our Dusseldorf Server was not for the respective exercises. This is expected of any Hosting Provider who cares about the efficiency and continuous availability of the services they provide you.
Scalability is a dependable feature of a Contabo VPS as you can easily adjust your Server’s capacity as your needs grow. It is very important to providing you with optimal performance and eliminating resource restrictions during traffic spikes.
With a Contabo VPS, Security is prioritized. You have dedicated firewalls, DDoS protection, and the whole system is made physically secure. All of these are regularly reviewed to find better options and loopholes to mitigate so that you get the best security and reliability for your VPS and the safety of your data.
A Contabo VPS also provides you with backups. You can have the peace of mind you want as you carry out updates on your website, and if you do need to revert to previous settings, you can conveniently.
Pros and Cons of a Contabo VPS
Pros of a Contabo VPS
(1) Contabo VPS packages are relatively affordable which makes them attractive to budget-conscious persons and small businesses.
(2) A Contabo VPS provides scalability. This allows the user to add additional storage, memory, or processing power to an existing installation, and the brand makes this process hassle-free.
(3) Having a Contabo VPS delivers reliability. You have excellent uptime guarantee with a smooth online presence.
(4) With a Contabo VPS, you have Full Root Access. This means that you have full control of your Server environment. With this, you will be able to customize your installation, perform software installations and configurations, to cater to your specific needs.
(5) Contabo as a brand provides you with multiple Data Center Locations to choose from and have a Contabo VPS. These include the US (West, Central, East), United Kingdom, EU (Germany), Asia (Japan, Singapore), Australia (Sydney).
Cons of a Contabo VPS
(1) Having and maintaining a Virtual Private Server (VPS) requires a certain level of technical knowledge. This is not specific to a Contabo VPS alone, and Contabo as a brand operates a self-administration model on their VPS. This means you have full control, and own the process of maintaining your Server and carrying out activities like software updates, system configurations, and security patches. If you are a beginner, troubleshooting Server-related tasks would require knowledge in this area. However, the Contabo Technical Support Team is available for you. But, if the tasks you want to perform are very extensive, you may need to pay. As an alternative, if you want a Fully Managed VPS without worrying about Server maintenance, you may take a look at LiquidWeb’s Fully Managed Hosting Services.
Contabo VPS Packages
Firstly, Contabo is the first Web Hosting Company to launch the Ryzen 9 7900 Dedicated Server, and right now, you can get this Server with No Setup Fee, 1 TB free storage for AMD and Intel Dedicated Servers, a 50% Discount on Storage Extension on all Contabo VPS’es, and a 20% Off on any Additional SSD Storage on Contabo Virtual Dedicated Servers.
Contabo High-Performance VPS
The Contabo High-Performance VPS solutions are all about the performance expectations you expect to get. These services are available in 4 different pricing plans elaborated below:
(1) CLOUD VPS S
VPS S is available at $8.49 per month with the following features:
(i) Backed with 4 cores of vCPU
(ii) 8 GB RAM
(iii) 50 GB NVMe
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 1 Snapshot
(2) CLOUD VPS M
VPS M is available at $13.99 per month with the following features:
(i) Backed with 6 cores of vCPU
(ii) 16 GB RAM
(iii) 100 GB NVMe
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 2 Snapshots
(vi) This package brings the best value for most users.
(3) CLOUD VPS L
If the M package does not meet your needs, then you can go for the L package. VPS L is available at $22.99 per month with the following features:
(i) Backed with 8 cores of vCPU
(ii) Provides you with 200 GB NVMe
(iii) 30 GB of RAM and 32 TB of Traffic
(iv) 3 Snapshots
(4) CLOUD VPS XL
This is the most expensive package you can get here. Cloud VPS XL is available at $40.49 per month with the following features:
(i) Backed with 10 cores of vCPU
(ii) 60 GB RAM
(iii) 400 GB NVMe or 1.6 TB SSD
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 4 Snapshots
Contabo Storage VPS
These are the Contabo VPS services tailored to meet your storage needs if you prefer VM for your storage needs. The following are the pricing plans available:
(1) STORAGE VPS S
This Storage VPS package starts at $8.49 per month and brings the following features:
(i) Backed with 2 cores of vCPU
(ii) 4 GB RAM
(ii) 400 GB HDD storage
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 200 Mbit/s Port
(2) STORAGE VPS M
This storage VPS package starts at $13.99 per month and brings the following features:
(i) Backed with 4 cores of vCPU
(ii) 8 GB RAM
(iii) 800 GB SSD storage
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 400 Mbit/s Port
(3) STORAGE VPS L
This storage VPS package starts at $22.99 per month and brings the following features:
(i) Backed with 6 cores of vCPU
(ii) 16 GB RAM
(iii) 1.6 TB SSD storage
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 600 Mbit/s Port
(4) STORAGE VPS XL
This storage VPS package starts at $40.49 per month and brings the following features:
(i) Backed with 8 cores of vCPU
(ii) 32 GB RAM
(iii) 3.2 TB SSD storage
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(v) 1 Gbit/s Port
Contabo Virtual Dedicated Servers
The Contabo Virtual Dedicated Servers bring more value to you. With the latest storage options and Hyper-threading, things get amazingly beneficial for you. The following are the packages that you get here:
(1) CLOUD VDS S
VDS S is available at $57.99 per month with all of the following features:
(i) Backed with 3 cores of physical CPU
(ii) 24 GB RAM
(iii) 180 GB NVMe
(iv) 250 Mbit/s Port
(v) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(2) CLOUD VDS M
VDS M is available at $68.99 per month with all of the following features:
(i) Backed with 4 cores of physical CPU
(ii) 32 GB RAM
(iii) 240 GB NVMe
(iv) 500 Mbit/s Port
(v) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(3) CLOUD VDS L
VDS L is available at $103.99 per month with all of the following features:
(i) Backed with 6 cores of physical CPU
(ii) 48 GB RAM
(iii) 360 GB NVMe
(iv) 750 Mbit/s Port
(v) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(4) CLOUD VDS XL
VDS XL is available at $137.99 per month with all of the following features:
(i) Backed with 8 cores of physical CPU
(ii) 64 GB RAM
(iii) 480 GB NVMe
(iv) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(v) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
(5) CLOUD VDS XXL
VDS XXL is available at $194.99 per month with all of the following features:
(i) Backed with 12 cores of physical CPU
(ii) 96 GB RAM
(iii) 720 GB NVMe
(iv) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(v) 32 TB Traffic and Unlimited Incoming
Contabo Shared Hosting Services
(1) Contabo Webspace Package M
This package costs $3.99 monthly where you get the following features:
(i) 50 GB of space
(ii) 20 databases-MySQL
(iii) Email addresses: 1000
(iv) 1 free domain
(v) cPanel
(vi) WordPress
(2) Contabo Webspace Package L
This package costs $6.99 monthly where you get the following features:
(i) 100 GB of space
(ii) 50 databases-MySQL
(iii) Email addresses: 2000
(iv) 1 free domain
(v) cPanel
(vi) WordPress
(vii) This package brings the best value for most users
(3) Contabo Webspace Package XL
This package costs $10.99 monthly where you get the following features:
(i) 250 GB of space
(ii) 100 databases-MySQL
(iii) Email addresses: 5000
(iv) 2 free domains
(v) cPanel
(vi) WordPress
(4) Contabo Webspace Package XXL
This package costs $12.99 monthly where you get the following features:
(i) 500 GB Space
(ii) Unlimited databases-MySQL
(ii) Unlimited email addresses
(iv) 3 free domains
(v) cPanel
(vi) WordPress
Contabo Dedicated Servers (Different from Virtual Dedicated Servers)
Contabo Dedicated Servers are bare metal Servers with raw computing power, proper hardware flexibility, and storage customization. The following are the packages available:
(1) AMD RYZEN 12 CORES
Starts at $89.99 monthly with the following features:
(i) Features an AMD Ryzen 9 7900
(ii) 64 GB REG ECC
(iii) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(iv) 32 Terabytes Traffic and up to 324 Terabytes
(2) Intel 10-Core
Starts at $134.99 monthly with the following features:
(i) Features an Intel Xeon E5 2630v4
(ii) 256 GB REG ECC
(iii) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and up to 324 TB
(3) Intel Dual 10-Core
Starts at $164.99 monthly with the following features:
(i) Features Two Intel Xeon E5 2630v4
(ii) 256 GB REG ECC
(iii) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and up to 324 TB
(4) AMD 16-Core EPYC
Starts at $249.99 monthly with the following features:
(i) Backed with an EPYC 7282 processor
(ii) 256 GB ECC REG
(iii) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and up to 324 TB
(5) AMD 32-Core EPYC
Starts at $329.99 monthly with the following features:
(i) Backed with Two EPYC 7282 processors
(ii) 256 GB ECC REG
(iii) 1 Gigabit/s Port
(iv) 32 TB Traffic and up to 324 TB
Other Contabo Web Hosting Services
(1) Contabo Server Outlet
Contabo server outlet services are also available where you can easily select what will be the best deal for you with respect to their dedicated server services using the following filters; CPU, Data Center, RAM, SSD option, NVMe option, and 1 Gigabit/s port option. In this way, you can easily find out which brings the best value for you.
(2) Contabo Domains
Getting a domain name is necessary when you are looking for a professional image as mentioned earlier in this review. Contabo brings domains that you can select from. Services like DNS management, registration, and transfer are all covered here. The following are the 3 options for domains available here:
(i) Generic domains starting from $2.59 per month
(ii) Country Code domains with varying monthly prices for every country
(iii) New domains starting at $1.99 per month
(3) Contabo Plesk Servers and Virtual Private Servers
Contabo Plesk Servers and Contabo VPS’es might be what you need to fulfill your requirements, and you are assured of the best experience. Amazingly enough, these work on both Linux and Windows platforms, making things more convenient for you. With features like Web Space Management, Easy Code Deployment, and Server Security Management, every client can get a top-tier experience here. The following are the best-selling Plesk Bundles available.
Entry Level
The Entry Level services start at $16.98 monthly with the following features:
(i) Plesk Web Admin
(ii) Backed with 4 cores of vCPU
(iii) 8 Gigabytes RAM
(iv) 50 Gigabytes NVMe
Cheap Reseller
The Cheap Reseller services start at $74.98 monthly with the following features:
(i) Plesk Web Pro Edition
(ii) 30 domains
(iii) Backed with 4 cores of physical CPU
(iv) 32 Gigabytes RAM
(v) NVMe Storage
Powerful Reseller
The Powerful Reseller services start at $319.98 monthly with the following features:
(i) Plesk Web Host
(ii) AMD 32-Core EPYC based dedicated server
(iii) 256 Gigabytes RAM
(4) Contabo cPanel Servers and Virtual Private Servers
When it comes to getting manageability via Graphical User Interface for your Servers, cPanel serves a great purpose. These come at affordable prices, with all the necessary features like optimization and performance. The following are the best-selling cPanel bundles available:
Entry Level
The Entry Level services start at $25.98 monthly with the following features:
(i) 5 accounts of cPanel/WHM
(ii) Backed with 4 cores of vCPU
(iii) 8 Gigabytes RAM
(iv) 50 Gigabytes NVMe / 200 Gigabytes SSD
Cheap Reseller
The Cheap Reseller services start at $134.98 monthly with the following features:
(i) 100 accounts of cPanel/WHM
(ii) Backed with 6 cores of physical CPU
(iii) 48 Gigabytes RAM
(iv) NVMe storage
Power Reseller
The Powerful Reseller services start at $347.98 monthly with the following features:
(i) 200 accounts of cPanel/WHM
(ii) AMD 32-Core EPYC CPU-based dedicated server
(iii) 256 Gigabytes RAM
(iv) All of these services bring the following features and benefits:
(v) Integrated security
(vi) Automation
(vii) Server management
(viii) Easy Backups
(ix) SSL
(x) IP management
(xi) Monitoring
(5) Contabo Windows Servers and Virtual Private Servers
The Windows Servers are optimized for the easiest usage and the best performance for Windows Operating Systems. With proper testing, you can be sure to get the best performance with the highest compatibility, and all of that with an attractive price range. These services are available with the following options:
Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop services start at $14.28 per month with the following features:
(i) 2016 Windows Server
(ii) Backed with 4 cores of vCPU
(iii) 8 Gigabytes RAM
(iv) 50 Gigabytes NVMe / 200 Gigabytes SSD
Meta Trading
Meta Trading Services start at $49.48 per month. It relies on VPS L-based Windows Server for Meta or Forex trading.
Game Server
The Game Server Services start at $49.99 per month, and these services rely on the VDS S-based dedicated server.
Reseller
This package is the perfect choice for the Web Hosting Reseller Business, and it is based on the VDS L.
Final Thoughts on Contabo VPS
Contabo VPS Solutions are among the strongest contenders in the Virtual Private Servers market today, and this is so because of the affordability and reliability they deliver. Looking at the performance metrics of our Contabo VPS which includes speed, uptime, security, and scalability, it is recommended for any individual or business seeking a dependable web hosting solution.
Thanks for this interesting and well detailed information.
Contabo is an excellent hosting solution.
I now use Contabo and its being a nice experience.
By the way, Contabo Object Storage is the cheapest out there, I recommend trying that too.