The short version
- Go direct to Linode if you have a card you are happy to use, you want their full product surface (managed databases, object storage, Kubernetes), and an identity check is not a problem for you. It will be cheaper.
- Come through us if you want a Linode machine without a card, without an identity check, and paid by the hour from a balance you top up in crypto.
There is no third answer where we are cheaper for the same machine. We buy from Linode and resell; the margin is the price of the door.
What it actually costs
Two of our five plans cost more on Linode than on our other backends, because Linode charges us more for those two sizes:
| Plan | Most providers | On Linode |
|---|---|---|
| Starter (1 vCPU / 2 GB) | $18/mo | $22/mo |
| Standard (2 vCPU / 4 GB) | $34/mo | $41/mo |
Micro, Pro and Beast are the same price everywhere. We show the difference instead of averaging it into one number, because averaging would mean quietly earning less on Linode and making it up on Vultr — which is a decision about your money made without telling you.
A server's price is locked when you deploy it. Whatever we do to the list later, a machine you already own never changes price.
What you give up
Being specific is more useful than reassurance.
- No managed extras. Linode's databases, object storage, Kubernetes and their own backup service are not part of what we resell. You get a machine.
- Backups are Vultr-only. Our snapshot-and-restore button does not appear on a Linode server. Automatic archiving at zero balance still works — that is a different path, and it is per-provider.
- Reverse DNS is stricter. Linode will not accept a PTR record until the hostname already resolves to the server's IP. Create the A record first, wait, then set rDNS. On Vultr and Hetzner the order does not matter.
- No bandwidth meter. Linode has no API endpoint for per-server traffic, so the usage card that Vultr servers show is simply absent here.
- Two regions are paused. Linode stopped accepting new servers in Paris and Madrid without telling us; we found out when a deploy failed. Both are available on Vultr.
What you get that going direct does not give you
- No card, no identity check. An email address opens the account. There is no verification step at any point, and no phone number.
- One balance across four clouds. Vultr, DigitalOcean, Hetzner and Linode from the same account, the same API and the same prepaid balance. Pick the provider per server, not per signup.
- Hourly billing with an off switch. Destroy a server and billing stops that hour. There is no monthly commitment to cancel.
- Tokyo. If that is what you came for, Linode is the backend that has it, and it is one dropdown away rather than a second signup.
The part most comparisons skip
We hold the account at Linode. Their records point at us, not at you — which is a real privacy property and also the whole of it. Your server still has an IP address, your traffic still crosses their network, and abuse reports still get answered.
That is the honest shape of every reseller in this market, including the ones that do not say so.