Contabo VPS Review — verdict after 14 months
We ran a Contabo VPS S Cloud (Nuremberg DC) continuously for 14 months to host WireGuard and audit every axis: perf, price, RAM/CPU, support, dashboard. Here's the no-spin breakdown.
TL;DR — who it's for
Contabo VPS S Cloud at €4.99/mo remains the best price/GDPR/perf ratio for an EU self-host VPN in 2026. You save ~€250 over 5 years vs renewed NordVPN. In exchange you accept email-only support (3-6 h response) and an initial provisioning that can take 1 to 4 hours. For critical 24/7 availability without a human at hand → look elsewhere or take Hetzner.
We tested for 14 months
One VPS S Cloud (4 vCPU AMD EPYC, 8 GB RAM, 50 GB NVMe, 200 Mbps guaranteed), Nuremberg DE, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. iperf3 TCP/UDP 3 runs/day (9am/2pm/9pm, median kept), Paris → Nuremberg ping every 5 min via Updown.io, Prometheus + Grafana monitoring, 4 support tickets opened to measure response time, legal audit of contract terms and German jurisdiction.
Score breakdown — 5 categories
Weighted score over 5 categories (perf 25%, price 25%, RAM/CPU 20%, support 15%, dashboard 15%). Final aggregate: 4.3/5.
Network performance
200+ Mbps stable measured via iperf3 over 14 months. Paris ↔ Nuremberg median latency 24 ms, jitter < 1 ms. Zero major network incident. Slightly more volatile at peak than Hetzner but stays within advertised limits.
Price
€4.99/mo over 24 months (€119 upfront). Unbeatable in EU for 4 vCPU + 8 GB RAM + 200 Mbps + dedicated IPv4. No silent renewal hike verified on 2 accounts.
RAM / CPU / disk
AMD EPYC, 8 GB RAM, 50 GB NVMe — over-spec for a self-host VPN. Plenty of headroom for Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Pi-hole in parallel. Fast NVMe (~3,000 MB/s read).
Support
Email only, no live chat. 3-6 h average response over 4 opened tickets. Competent in English and German. Not ideal for urgent 24/7 incidents.
Dashboard / UX
Functional UI, built-in KVM web console, quick DNS management and reboot. Less polished than Hetzner Cloud Console but more than enough for 90% of use cases.
What won us over
- Stable 200+ Mbps measured via iperf3 over 14 months (3 runs/day, median kept)
- Zero major network incident over 14 months — observed availability 99.98%
- Dedicated IPv4 + IPv6 /64 included: no shared reputation
- Paris ↔ Nuremberg latency: 24 ms on average, stable at peak
- Price locked for 24 months (€4.99/mo) with no silent renewal hike
- German jurisdiction — GDPR by design, outside 5/9/14 Eyes
- 8 global datacenters (DE, US, UK, JP, IN, SG, AU) if you want to switch POP
- 32 TB/mo traffic included — plenty for heavy personal VPN use
What could be better
- Email-only support (no chat) — 3-6 h average response
- No pre-installed WireGuard — 15 min setup required (our step-by-step guide)
- +15 ms latency vs OVH Roubaix for strictly French-domestic traffic
- Initial provisioning: 1-4 h depending on time (vs <5 min on Hetzner Cloud)
- No solid public API for infra-as-code (vs Terraform Hetzner)
- No advanced DDoS protection bundled (vs OVH standard anti-DDoS)
Contabo vs Hetzner vs OVH
Compared on the same axes as our test: identical EU self-host VPN profile.
| Criterion | Contabo VPS S | Hetzner CX22 | OVH VPS Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price (24m) | €4.99 | €4.29 | €5.99 |
| vCPU | 4 AMD EPYC | 2 Intel/AMD | 1 vCore |
| RAM | 8 GB | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| NVMe disk | 50 GB | 40 GB | 40 GB |
| Bandwidth | 200 Mbps | 1 Gbps shared | 100 Mbps |
| Traffic included | 32 TB | 20 TB | Unlimited |
| Provisioning | 1-4 h | <5 min | 5-15 min |
| Support | Ticket + chat | Ticket FR | |
| Jurisdiction | Germany | Germany/Finland | France |
| DDoS protection | Basic | Basic | Std anti-DDoS |
Real pricing
What you actually pay, tax included, no renewal trap.
- 24-month commitment (upfront)~€119 incl. VATi.e. €4.99/mo
- 12-month commitment~€89 incl. VATi.e. €7.42/mo
- Monthly no commitment€8.49/moprefer 24 months
- Post-24m renewal€4.99/molocked price verified
- Setup fees€0none
- 30-day money-backYesverified on test account
Verdict
Contabo VPS S Cloud at €4.99/mo remains our #1 pick for a self-hosted WireGuard tunnel in 2026. 200 Mbps stable over 14 months, zero major network incident, dedicated IPv4, German GDPR jurisdiction. The single real downside: email-only support. For this price, very acceptable.
Try Contabo VPS S for 30 days
30 jours satisfait ou remboursé. If the setup doesn't fit, you can cancel within the first month — verified on a test account.
See Contabo VPS S offerSponsored link. See our editorial independence charter.
Frequently asked
Why 4.3/5 and not 5/5?
Three structural pain points: (1) email-only support without chat, painful during urgent incidents; (2) initial provisioning 1-4 h vs <5 min at Hetzner; (3) no solid API for infra-as-code. On the other axes (perf, price, RAM/CPU, jurisdiction) we score 4.5 to 5/5.
Does the price rise on renewal like NordVPN?
No — verified on 2 different accounts. The 24-month locked price (€4.99/mo) applies on renewal. Exactly what you want from self-host VPN vs SaaS services.
Has Contabo had a major incident?
Over our 14 months of continuous monitoring (Updown.io + Prometheus), 0 major network incident, 2 maintenance windows announced 7 days in advance (1h each, CET night). Observed availability 99.98%.
Suitable for hosting more than WireGuard?
Yes — the VPS S Cloud is massively over-spec for VPN alone (WireGuard fits in ~1% CPU). You can add Pi-hole, personal Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Discord bot. Recommended actually: amortizes the cost.
Why Nuremberg over Düsseldorf or US?
Nuremberg = best latency for France (~24 ms vs ~28 ms Düsseldorf) and German GDPR jurisdiction. If you target Netflix US or APAC content, pick US Central or Singapore DC.
How to cancel within 30 days?
Support ticket from the dashboard, mention 'cancel within trial period'. Reply in 24-48 h, refund 7-14 days on the payment method. We verified the procedure on a test account this year.