[astrodust]

I've used Linode since they opened and their pricing has been extremely consistent, it has never gone up or been randomly changed.

They introduced per-hour billing recently, that's the only fundamental change to their billing, and that was something you had to go out of your way to opt into if you wanted it for an existing account.

If you provisioned a $20/mo. machine then yes you will pay $240 per year for it. This is how math works.