[chias]

If "$10 / month" counts as cheap in your book, check out a Linode VPS. I've been using them for a couple years now, and I have been extremely satisfied (although I've upgraded to a beefier VPS as my project has grown in popularity).

Another good VPS option is DigitalOcean, which offers a smaller (and cheaper) plan for $5 / month.

There are also a lot of shared hosting providers out there that will sell you cheaper space, but I would not recommend this for anything non-trivial, as most of the time, you'll be limited to using PHP. Still, if you're looking for the best bang for your buck and you're willing to settle for shared hosting, check out Nearly Free Speech -- they are head and shoulders above any other shared hosting provider that I have ever tried.

[komaromy]

If you're considering Linode, you should read up on their history of security incidents and make sure it's a risk you're willing to take.

[StavrosK]

Not just that, I used Linode way back when and now am between a rock and a hard place. I needed 20 extra GB of space and the only viable alternative was to upgrade to a plan twice what I had, at twice the cost, just for those 20 extra GB. Meanwhile, with DO or AWS, all I had to do was add a volume for $2/mo or something.

I can't get away from Linode soon enough.

[chias]

Indeed - it's always good to be aware of these things. I've been around for most of them and I am still very happy to use them, but of course your own perspective may differ.

[mjmasn]

Is there a VPS provider that _hasn't_ had security issues? Linode has had a few pretty bad ones but they've also been around for a long time and always seem to be improving their systems and processes (lately communication with customers following an incident has improved a lot, and with the DDoS issues they had the improvements they're making to their network are pretty solid). For the price/performance ratio though there's no comparison.

If you can afford it, AWS is possibly a more secure choice with a whole ecosystem of associated products, but at face value if you just need a few VPSes you'll pay a lot more for the same performance than you do with Linode.

[smoyer]

I've been with Linode for over six years and the only security incident I've have was my own fault. Follow the guides for securing new VPSs - I recommend that SSH be configured to disallow root logins and only allow certificates for authentication. There are many great guides available.

[chias]

I think people are disagreeing with you because the parent comment is referring to Linode platform security and not the security of the individual VPSes -- which is a valid point. The security of your individual VPS depends, to a certain degree, on the Linode platform's security.

But I find it disheartening that multiple people chose to just downvote you, and nobody bothered to write a response.

[smoyer]

I came to the same conclusion but what good is karma if you don't get down-voted occasionally?

I didn't misunderstand the parent's comment ... I was just providing a data point on the continuum. My experience with Linode has been great. I do realize that there have been security problems with the platform itself.

[iamben]

Another thumbs up for Nearly Free Speech. Excellent value for money and more than capable of dealing with traffic spikes.

[nhebb]

Linode has a $10 / month plan as well.

[chias]

Ah, you're right! Thank you for the correction.

It's $10 and $5, I shall edit accordingly.