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Looking for a cheap VPS in Tokyo or Singapore, 1-2GB RAM, under $5/mo. I may be wrong, but I think latency to my JP clients matters more than raw CPU. Mostly static sites and a small API. Anyone had good luck lately? I checked a few providers and prices seem higher than I expected in Tokyo. Singapore might be okay if the undersea route is clean. Any suggestions appreciated.
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Tokyo ←→ Singapore typical:
Vultr SG : 62ms, route via NTT (clean)
OVHcloud SG : 71ms, route via PCCW then NTT (adds 9ms)
Contabo JP : 4ms, obviously
Hetzner SG : 35ms, route via IIJ
Tokyo ←→ Singapore client (my test):
Contabo : 8ms
Vultr SG : 68ms
RackNerd JP : 5msIf your clients are in Kanto, Tokyo wins. If they're Hokkaido or rural, SG route via NTT is only ~10ms worse than some "Tokyo" hosts that actually peer in Singapore anyway. Made test order with Vultr SG last week — I used https://www.vultr.com/pricing/ — route via NTT adds 12ms versus ideal but it's stable.
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Bandwidth cost in Singapore is higher than people think. Some provider charge overage after 500GB. Check TOS carefully before order. NAT VPS available cheaper if you only need outbound? 1GB NAT box in SG can be $2.50/mo from some places. Not sure if fits your use case.
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Hey @kenji3! We have SG node running Ryzen 9 7950X, 1GB KVM starts at $4.20/mo, 2GB at $6.80 — sent ticket yesterday to sales team about possible $5.50 promo for 2GB, made test order myself to verify stock. Route is NTT + Singtel, very clean to JP! Also have Tokyo location but price is higher, old Xeon E5 there, not as nice. If you want I can ping you when promo goes live. Cheers
52 boxes and counting
Kenji3 here's my breakdown for sub-€5 APAC:
Hoarder math says $/GB/RAM Vultr wins if you can stretch to $4.20. If strict $5, Contabo. Singapore bandwidth cost thing minh said is real, Vultr gives 1TB tho, others 500GB.
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IMO if your API is small and cacheable, 1GB is plenty. YMMV but I ran similar workload on Vultr SG 1GB for 6 months, no issues. Latency to my JP users was acceptable, take it with a grain of salt since I don't serve Kanto specifically. Contabo JP had better pings but worse CPU contention during JP evening hours — https://contabo.com/en/vps/. One thing to watch: some "Tokyo" hosts are actually Chiba or Saitama datacenters, route adds 3-5ms versus true Tokyo. Not huge but worth checking traceroute if you're sensitive.
Route to my JP users was bad, goes through Singapore first. Will check Vultr for next project. @kenji3 sir, if you find good deal in Tokyo please share here, I also looking for same spec. 🙏
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Thanks everyone, this is way more detail than I expected. @hankels that breakdown is exactly what I needed. @quinnbizz good point on evening contention, I hadn't thought about JP peak hours hitting Contabo harder — https://contabo.com/en/vps/. Leaning Vultr SG at $4.20 unless ana_mad's promo materializes. Will report back once I spin something up.
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