VPS vs home server cost calculator

We earn commissions when you shop through the links below. Learn more

Compare a rented VPS with a small server at home: the monthly VPS bill against the hardware price plus the electricity it uses. The prices and power figures below come from official pages, checked 2026-10-29.

VPS vs home server cost

See which costs less over time: a rented VPS or a small server at home.

How we calculate this

Electricity rate default: 0.15 per kWh (example only, not a real tariff)
Hardware cost default: 0 (we do not assume a price)
Hours per month: 730 (24 × 365 ÷ 12)
home kWh per month = watts × 730 ÷ 1000
home total = hardware + kWh per month × rate × months
VPS total = monthly price × months
break-even months = hardware ÷ (VPS price − home power per month)
Example: 16.98 W × 730 h ÷ 1000 = 12.40 kWh per month; at 0.15 per kWh that is 1.86 per month
Not included: drives, and DigitalOcean backups (+20% weekly or +30% daily)
Source: DigitalOcean Droplet pricing, checked 2026-10-29
Source: Synology DS225+ specifications, checked 2026-10-29

Official figures

VPS pricesHome server power

DigitalOcean Basic Droplet (Regular)	Per month	Over 36 months
1 GiB / 1 vCPU / 25 GiB	$6	$216
2 GiB / 1 vCPU / 50 GiB	$12	$432
2 GiB / 2 vCPU / 60 GiB	$18	$648
4 GiB / 2 vCPU / 80 GiB	$24	$864
8 GiB / 4 vCPU / 160 GiB	$48	$1,728

DigitalOcean backups add 20% (weekly) or 30% (daily) of the Droplet price.

Device (official figure)	Power	Per month	Cost at 0.15/kWh (example rate)	Cost at 0.30/kWh (example rate)
Synology DS225+, Access	16.98 W	12.40 kWh	1.86	3.72
Synology DS225+, HDD Hibernation	6.08 W	4.44 kWh	0.67	1.33

Mini PC makers rarely publish wall-power figures; a CPU’s TDP is not what the whole box draws, so we do not list one here.

FAQ

Is a home server cheaper than a VPS?

Over a few years it often is, because a small NAS draws only a few watts. Whether it is cheaper for you depends on the hardware price and your own electricity rate, so enter both in the calculator.

Which power figure should I use?

Use the maker’s published figure for your device. Synology lists separate figures for access and for HDD hibernation; a box that sleeps most of the day averages somewhere between the two.

Does this include backups or drives?

No. Add the cost of drives to the hardware figure. For a VPS, DigitalOcean backups add 20% (weekly) or 30% (daily) of the Droplet price.

Sources

DigitalOcean Droplet pricing (Basic Droplets and backups), checked 2026-10-29
Synology DS225+ specifications (power consumption), checked 2026-10-29