Best VPS for a Mail Server (mailcow)
VPS plans with the 6 GB of RAM mailcow needs for a self-hosted mail server with webmail and spam filtering. We only list plans with at least 6 GB RAM, 1 vCPU and 20 GB storage: 220 plans from 30 providers qualify.
Prices checked on November 4, 2026. Monthly prices in USD on the billing term shown with each plan, including discounts through our links. We earn a fee if you buy through a provider link, which never changes the ranking. How we rank
- Minimum RAM
- 6 GB
- Minimum vCPU
- 1
- Cheapest plan
- $5.28/mo
- Plans that qualify
- 220
Source: mailcow system prerequisites (official), checked November 3, 2026. The 6 GB RAM and 20 GB storage minimums are mailcow's official figures, and one vCPU covers its 1 GHz CPU requirement. StableHost's plans are left out because mailcow doesn't support OpenVZ.
The best value VPS plans for a mail server (mailcow)
| # | Provider and plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Price | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ContaboCloud VPS 6 | 6 | 12 GB | 200 GB SSD | Unlimited | $7.20/mo2-year term · renews at $9.00/mo | Visit Contabo |
| 2 | ContaboCloud VPS 8 | 8 | 24 GB | 300 GB SSD | Unlimited | $13.44/mo2-year term · renews at $16.80/mo | Visit Contabo |
| 3 | ContaboCloud VPS 12 | 12 | 48 GB | 400 GB SSD | Unlimited | $24.00/mo2-year term · renews at $30.00/mo | Visit Contabo |
| 4 | ContaboCloud VPS 4 | 4 | 8 GB | 100 GB SSD | Unlimited | $5.28/mo2-year term · renews at $6.60/mo | Visit Contabo |
| 5 | ContaboCloud VPS 18 | 18 | 96 GB | 600 GB SSD | Unlimited | $47.04/mo2-year term · renews at $58.80/mo | Visit Contabo |
| 6 | AccuWebHostingVPS Power | 3 | 16 GB | 200 GB NVME | 0.65 TB | $9.66/mo2-year term · renews at $38.83/mo | Visit AccuWebHosting |
| 7 | ContaboCloud VPS 16 | 16 | 64 GB | 500 GB SSD | Unlimited | $35.60/mo2-year term · renews at $44.50/mo | Visit Contabo |
| 8 | HostingerKVM 4 | 4 | 16 GB | 200 GB NVME | 16 TB | $10.39/mo20% off with us2-year term · renews at $28.99/mo | Visit Hostinger |
| 9 | HostingerKVM 8 | 8 | 32 GB | 400 GB NVME | 32 TB | $20.79/mo20% off with us2-year term · renews at $49.99/mo | Visit Hostinger |
| 10 | AccuWebHostingVPS Supreme | 4 | 32 GB | 400 GB NVME | 1 TB | $19.37/mo2-year term · renews at $77.66/mo | Visit AccuWebHosting |
| 11 | A2 HostingSelf Managed Linux 32GB | 16 | 32 GB | 640 GB NVME | Unlimited | $34.99/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher | Visit A2 Hosting |
| 12 | RackNerd6 GB KVM VPS | 6 | 6 GB | 100 GB SSD | 12 TB | $7.50/mo1-year term | Visit RackNerd |
| 13 | RackNerd8 GB KVM VPS | 7 | 8 GB | 150 GB SSD | 20 TB | $10.00/mo1-year term | Visit RackNerd |
| 14 | A2 HostingSelf Managed Linux 16GB | 8 | 16 GB | 320 GB NVME | Unlimited | $17.99/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher | Visit A2 Hosting |
| 15 | AccuWebHostingVPS Peak | 2 | 8 GB | 100 GB NVME | 0.45 TB | $6.75/mo2-year term · renews at $19.41/mo | Visit AccuWebHosting |
| 16 | HostingerKVM 2 | 2 | 8 GB | 100 GB NVME | 8 TB | $7.03/mo20% off with us2-year term · renews at $14.99/mo | Visit Hostinger |
| 17 | HostPapaExcel | 16 | 16 GB | 300 GB NVME | Unlimited | $22.45/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher | Visit HostPapa |
| 18 | A2 HostingSelf Managed Linux 8GB | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB NVME | Unlimited | $9.99/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher | Visit A2 Hosting |
| 19 | HostPapaTriumph | 32 | 32 GB | 500 GB NVME | Unlimited | $44.45/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher | Visit HostPapa |
| 20 | ContaboCloud VPS Plus 6 | 6 | 12 GB | 300 GB NVME | Unlimited | $18.40/mo2-year term · renews at $23.00/mo | Visit Contabo |
mailcow system requirements
What the source says, in its own figures.
- mailcow system prerequisites
Official source, checked November 3, 2026
- Minimum
- CPU 1 GHz, RAM 6 GiB plus 1 GiB of swap (default config), disk 20 GiB without emails, x86_64 or ARM64.
- Recommended
- 8 GiB of RAM for about 5 to 10 users; 16 GiB for a company with 15 phones on ActiveSync and about 50 concurrent IMAP connections.
- Notes
- OpenVZ, Virtuozzo and LXC are not supported; KVM, ESX, Hyper-V and other full virtualization platforms are.
How to size a VPS for a mail server (mailcow)
mailcow is a complete groupware stack in Docker, with webmail, ActiveSync, spam filtering, ClamAV virus scanning and full-text search. That is why its docs ask for 6 GiB of RAM plus 1 GiB of swap and 20 GiB of disk before any mail is stored. They call that fine for most private installations and recommend 8 GiB for about 5 to 10 users.
ClamAV and the full-text search engine are the hungriest parts. If memory is tight, mailcow lets you switch them off with SKIP_CLAMD=y and SKIP_FTS=y in mailcow.conf.
mailcow needs full virtualization such as KVM, ESX or Hyper-V; its docs list OpenVZ, Virtuozzo and LXC as unsupported. That's why StableHost's OpenVZ plans are left out of this list.
Hardware is the easy part of running mail. Incoming mail arrives on TCP port 25, which must be open, and sending needs outbound port 25, which some providers block on new accounts. Ask the provider about port 25 and a reverse DNS (PTR) record before you buy.
Our recommendation: 8 GB RAM for 5 to 10 users and 40 GB or more of storage for mail, or 16 GB for a team with many phones syncing.
The cheapest qualifying plan at each provider
| Provider | Plan | RAM | vCPU | Storage | Per GB RAM | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contabo | Cloud VPS 4 | 8 GB | 4 | 100 GB SSD | $0.66 | $5.28/mo2-year term · renews at $6.60/mo |
| AccuWebHosting | VPS Peak | 8 GB | 2 | 100 GB NVME | $0.84 | $6.75/mo2-year term · renews at $19.41/mo |
| Hostinger | KVM 2 | 8 GB | 2 | 100 GB NVME | $0.88 | $7.03/mo2-year term · renews at $14.99/mo |
| RackNerd | 6 GB KVM VPS | 6 GB | 6 | 100 GB SSD | $1.25 | $7.50/mo1-year term |
| A2 Hosting | Self Managed Linux 8GB | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB NVME | $1.25 | $9.99/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| HostGator | Snappy 4000 - NVMe 8 | 8 GB | 4 | 200 GB NVME | $1.56 | $12.49/mo2-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| Namecheap | Quasar | 6 GB | 4 | 120 GB SSD | $2.15 | $12.88/mo1-year term |
| Bluehost | NVMe 8 | 8 GB | 4 | 200 GB NVME | $1.62 | $12.99/mo2-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| HostPapa | Achieve | 8 GB | 8 | 200 GB NVME | $1.81 | $14.45/mo3-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| InMotion Hosting | VPS 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB NVME | $1.84 | $14.70/mo2-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| Time4VPS | Linux 8 | 8 GB | 3 | 80 GB SSD | $1.97 | $15.76/mo1-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| Fasthosts | RAM VPS 2 | 8 GB | 2 | 120 GB NVME | $2.49 | $19.94/mo1-year term · intro price, renews higher |
| GreenGeeks | Self-managed VPS 8GB | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB NVME | $2.50 | $19.99/mo1-year term · renews at $39.99/mo |
| IONOS | VPS L+ | 8 GB | 4 | 240 GB NVME | $2.59 | $20.75/mo1-year term · renews at $25.00/mo |
| SupportHost | Cloud 1 UnManaged | 8 GB | 4 | 80 GB NVME | $2.72 | $21.74/mo1-year term |
| Liquid Web | Compute 6GB | 6 GB | 2 | 120 GB SSD | $3.67 | $22.00/mobilled monthly |
| UltaHost | VPS Enterprise | 6 GB | 4 | 100 GB NVME | $4.37 | $26.24/mo1-year term |
| Hostwinds | Managed VPS 6GB RAM 2CPU | 6 GB | 2 | 100 GB SSD | $4.83 | $28.99/mobilled monthly |
| Hostens | KVM 8 GB | 8 GB | 3 | 80 GB SSD | $3.94 | $31.50/mobilled monthly |
| ScalaHosting | Config #2 | 8 GB | 4 | 100 GB NVME | $4.62 | $36.95/mo1-year term · renews at $49.95/mo |
| Hetzner | CPX32 | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB NVME | $4.89 | $39.12/mobilled monthly |
| AWS Lightsail | Lightsail 8 GB | 8 GB | 2 | 160 GB SSD | $5.50 | $44.00/mobilled monthly |
| Vultr | High Performance AMD 4 vCPU / 8 GB | 8 GB | 4 | 180 GB NVME | $6.00 | $48.00/mobilled monthly |
| HawkHost | HawkHost 8GB | 8 GB | 4 | 165 GB NVME | $6.00 | $48.00/mobilled monthly |
| DigitalOcean | Basic 8 GB | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB SSD | $6.00 | $48.00/mobilled monthly |
| Linode | Linode 8GB | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB SSD | $6.00 | $48.00/mobilled monthly |
| VPSBG | Cloud VPS 2 vCPU / 8 GB | 8 GB | 2 | 80 GB NVME | $6.62 | $52.99/mo1-year term |
| FastComet | Cloud 3 | 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB NVME | $8.66 | $69.27/morenews at $98.95/mo |
| SiteGround | Jump Start | 8 GB | 4 | 40 GB SSD | $10.80 | $86.40/mobilled monthly |
| RoseHosting | NVME 8 vps | 8 GB | 4 | 120 GB NVME | $11.25 | $89.99/mobilled monthly |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best VPS for a mail server (mailcow)?
Among plans with at least 6 GB RAM, 1 vCPU and 20 GB storage, the best value right now is Contabo Cloud VPS 6 with 12 GB RAM and 6 vCPU for $7.20 a month. The cheapest plan that meets the minimum is Contabo at $5.28.
What VPS specs do I need for a mail server (mailcow)?
We list plans with at least 6 GB RAM, 1 vCPU and 20 GB storage. The 6 GB RAM and 20 GB storage minimums are mailcow's official figures, and one vCPU covers its 1 GHz CPU requirement. StableHost's plans are left out because mailcow doesn't support OpenVZ. We recommend 8 GB RAM for 5 to 10 users and 40 GB or more of storage for mail, or 16 GB for a team with many phones syncing.
How much RAM does mailcow need?
At least 6 GiB plus 1 GiB of swap with the default configuration. mailcow recommends 8 GiB for about 5 to 10 users, and 16 GiB for a company with 15 phones syncing over ActiveSync and about 50 concurrent IMAP connections.
Can I run mailcow on an OpenVZ or LXC VPS?
No. The mailcow docs list OpenVZ, Virtuozzo and LXC as not supported. KVM, ESX, Hyper-V and other full virtualization platforms are supported.
Can mailcow run with less memory?
You can save memory by turning off ClamAV and full-text search with SKIP_CLAMD=y and SKIP_FTS=y in mailcow.conf. The 6 GiB minimum is for the default configuration.
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