What Is Hourly Billing for a Server?

Hourly billing means a server is charged for each hour it runs, instead of a fixed price for the month. A server you run for a weekend costs a weekend. When you stop or delete it, the charges stop.

How it works

The provider records which servers are running and charges each one its size's hourly rate for every hour. Plans differ in what happens when a server runs for the whole month. Either the hourly rate keeps applying, or charging stops once the month's charges reach a set monthly price, which is called a monthly cap. Before you choose a provider, check which one you are getting.

A month has between 672 and 744 hours, so the difference matters. Without a cap, 744 hours at the hourly rate can add up to more than the monthly price of the same size.

When to use it

• Servers that run for hours or days: load tests, demos, staging copies, short experiments.
• CI runners and batch jobs you start when there is work and stop afterwards.
• Trying a size before you commit to it for a month.

When not to use it

• A server that runs all month, every month, gets nothing extra from hourly billing. On a plan with a monthly cap it costs the same as a monthly price would, so the choice does not matter.
• A stopped server that you forgot to delete may still hold paid add-ons, such as a dedicated IPv4 address, which are charged until you release them.

How it works on VeloxaHost

Every VPS size has an hourly rate and a monthly cap. Once an hour, each running server is charged one hour at its size's rate. A stopped server is not charged. When a server's charges for the calendar month (UTC) reach its size's monthly price, that server is not charged again until the next month.

The cap is per server, not per account. For example, Veloxa 2 ($15 a month, $0.03 an hour):

Server	Size	Hours running	Hourly rate	At the hourly rate	Monthly cap	Billed
test-box	Veloxa 2	100	$0.03	$3.00	$15	$3.00
app	Veloxa 2	744	$0.03	$22.32	$15	$15.00
Total						$18.00

The smallest size is Veloxa Nano ($4 a month, $0.01 an hour). Dedicated IPv4 addresses, object storage and block storage volumes are also charged by the hour while you hold them, and stop at their monthly price each month. Hourly charges need an active paid subscription: Pay as you go ($0 a month plus the hours your servers run, with a card on file) or a hosting plan you pay for. Managed web hosting plans are billed monthly or yearly, not by the hour.

The hourly billed VPS page has the full rate table and a worked bill for a small team, and the VPS cost calculator works out your own month.

FAQ

Is a stopped server charged?

No. Only running servers are charged. A stopped server keeps its disk, and starting it again resumes hourly charges.

Does the cap reset if I resize a server?

No. After a resize, each hour is charged at the size the server has in that hour, and the cap is the new size's monthly price, counted against what the server has already been charged this month.

What happens on the first of the month?

Each server's count starts again at zero on the first day of the calendar month (UTC).

Does the free trial include hourly servers?

No. The 14-day trial does not cover servers with a VPS size. Activate Pay as you go or a paid hosting plan to run them.