What Happened to Racknerd?
- Thread starter Assclown
- Start date
- Dec 25, 2022
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- 158
I completely agree. The cost of deploying a new, fully equipped cabinet has increased nearly tenfold compared to last year. And it’s not just about RAM prices anymore - at the data center level, enterprise NVMe storage prices have increased even more aggressively than RAM. Combined with rising electricity and infrastructure costs it has now become nearly impossible to provide affordable plans.
I remember back in 2023 we were still able to offer VPS servers for as little as $3 during our BHW campaigns. Nowadays, however, our infrastructure is running at around 90% capacity, and more than half of our inventory is completely out of stock. The biggest issue is that scaling is no longer easy, even if we’re willing to pay that high prices, sourcing large amounts of enterprise-grade RAM has become extremely difficult.
- Oct 25, 2011
- 1,646
- 930
Yep. Even refurbished servers are a lot more expensive these days. I spoke with one budget VM provider a couple of weeks ago, and they said they are at full capacity and overselling their servers like crazy, but they have to stop accepting new business because they just can't squeeze any more out of them. They are using refurbished servers, and their provider increased the quote by 60%+ mid negotiation because they got a massive order from another service provider. And buying new hardware takes months..
So yeah, the budget VM market is not in the best situation right now. Perhaps it gets better in 2027, but unlikely.
clicksmeget
Newbie
- Jun 26, 2026
- 30
- 3
Racknerd built their business model on those crazy cheap introductory offers to capture market share. Once they hit critical mass, they shifted to normal pricing. It's a common playbook - DigitalOcean and Linode did similar things early on. The difference is Racknerd's support and uptime took a noticeable dip after they stopped prioritizing growth. For anyone looking for alternatives now, Hetzner's AX line offers way better value if you need dedicated resources, or Contabo for dirt cheap VPS with decent specs.
CloudMerchant
Registered Member
- Jun 25, 2026
- 70
- 15
Racknerd still does cheap stuff during black friday and their anniversary sales, just gotta wait for those windows. @clicksmeget right about the support dip though, had a ticket sit for like 2 days last time.
The RAM situation is the real killer atm. Whole AI buildout sucked up DDR5 supply and prices went nuts. Contabo is still probably the closest thing to old school cheap if you can live with the oversold IO, but their network has been flaky lately so ymmv. Dont think we see sub $2 deals come back proper until supply loosens, and like @Diplomat said that aint happening soon.
The RAM situation is the real killer atm. Whole AI buildout sucked up DDR5 supply and prices went nuts. Contabo is still probably the closest thing to old school cheap if you can live with the oversold IO, but their network has been flaky lately so ymmv. Dont think we see sub $2 deals come back proper until supply loosens, and like @Diplomat said that aint happening soon.
- Jun 16, 2022
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Can this change Or reverse in coming months?
- May 18, 2012
- 7,622
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AI has ruined everything for gamers.
I wanted to build a PC, but I cannot build with the same config. I had in mind earlier. 
Voxlane
Registered Member
- Jun 25, 2026
- 62
- 15
yeah the $1-2 vps days are pretty much gone unless you grab those NAT vps deals but those are useless for most setups anyway. honestly even if you find a cheap promo now the performance is so trash because of the overselling that your scrapers or bots just crash constantly. better to just pay the $5-8 and get something stable from netcup or hetzner, saves more money in lost time. trying to hunt for those old school lowendbox deals is just a waste of time now... the industry shifted.
- Oct 25, 2011
- 1,646
- 930
I'd look into 2027/2028 for prices to stabilize a bit.
Things seem to be getting a bit better based on the purchase orders we're seeing, but I don't think it will get any better this year.
The whole industry is being hit, not just budget service providers.
We may see a massive influx of refurbished enterprise servers once the AI bubble pops, but god knows when that happens.
Right now, I wouldn't rely on $2-3 VPS providers and get a stable host instead.
Adsmith2026
Registered Member
- Jun 25, 2026
- 60
- 5
Racknerd specifically you can still catch their bigger sales but the specs they give now arent what they used to be for the same money. @Diplomat pretty much nailed the timeline imo, nothing changes till the supply side loosens up.
One thing nobody mentioned, if youre running scrapers or anything that doesnt need persistent state, the NAT vps deals @Voxlane wrote off arent totally dead. For rotating tasks they still do the job and you can grab a few cheap and just cycle them. Not great for everything obviously but cheaper than paying $8 a box when you dont need the full setup.
Otherwise yeah... the $2 days are gone for now. Contabo if you can stomach the oversell, hetzner if you actually care about stability.
One thing nobody mentioned, if youre running scrapers or anything that doesnt need persistent state, the NAT vps deals @Voxlane wrote off arent totally dead. For rotating tasks they still do the job and you can grab a few cheap and just cycle them. Not great for everything obviously but cheaper than paying $8 a box when you dont need the full setup.
Otherwise yeah... the $2 days are gone for now. Contabo if you can stomach the oversell, hetzner if you actually care about stability.
Assclown
Regular Member
- Apr 20, 2018
- 412
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XSMMDoctor
Junior Member
- Jun 7, 2026
- 111
- 25
@Assclown hetzner is notorious for that. if you signup with a vpn or your billing address is even slightly off from your ip location they auto reject. usually you have to send them a photo of your passport or id to get approved... it is a huge pain but that is why their network and ips stay so clean compared to contabo.
as for the cheap stuff, the golden era of $10 a year vps is pretty much dead unless you want 128mb ram or nat ipv6. you can still find some lowendtalk promos occasionally but they are mostly useless for any serious scraping now.
as for the cheap stuff, the golden era of $10 a year vps is pretty much dead unless you want 128mb ram or nat ipv6. you can still find some lowendtalk promos occasionally but they are mostly useless for any serious scraping now.
- Jan 28, 2010
- 140
- 43
Yes there's no such thing as cheap and still pulling solid output these days.
With servers and server components at a wholesale costing much more and someimts a multiple of what they cost just several months ago (due to the AI induced computing prices armageddon)
Based on a first-hand experience - If you want a solid VPN from a real Company with a solid track record behind their brand, that will treat you like an actual client
Check the MojoHost VPN and dedicated options in their online store (starting at $ 39 / month)
No recurring or fixed term contracts, free website migration, actual support that cares
With servers and server components at a wholesale costing much more and someimts a multiple of what they cost just several months ago (due to the AI induced computing prices armageddon)
Based on a first-hand experience - If you want a solid VPN from a real Company with a solid track record behind their brand, that will treat you like an actual client
Check the MojoHost VPN and dedicated options in their online store (starting at $ 39 / month)
No recurring or fixed term contracts, free website migration, actual support that cares