Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, Vultr wins more of the head-to-head checks (9 vs 0) and ranks higher overall (#10 of 160). Vultr is cheaper to start ($2.50 vs $5.00 a month) and Vultr has more locations (32 vs 19).
Verdict
Vultr is cheaper to start: Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB (vc2-1c-0.5gb) costs $2.50 per month against $5.00 at Amazon Lightsail, and it stays cheaper per gigabyte of RAM ($5.50 vs $7.00 median).
Vultr has the wider footprint with 32 locations in 19 countries, against 19 in 17 at Amazon Lightsail; both offer Frankfurt, London, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seoul and 4 more.
Customers rate Vultr higher on Trustpilot: 1.6 from 585 reviews versus 1.3 from 429.
Overall Vultr ranks #10 and Amazon Lightsail #73 of 160 providers we track. Choose Vultr if price matters most or you need a wider choice of locations; choose Amazon Lightsail if its plan line-up fits your workload better.
Vultr and Lightsail side by side
| Vultr | Amazon Lightsail | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB (vc2-1c-0.5gb): $2.50/mo | Linux 512 MB: $5.00/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB SSD, 500 GB traffic | 2 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 20 GB SSD, 1 TB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 1 GB (vc2-1c-1gb): $5.00/mo | Windows 512 MB: $9.50/mo |
| Median price per GB RAM | $5.50 | $7.00 |
| Data-center locations | 32 in 19 countries | 19 in 17 countries |
| Regions | Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America |
| Virtualisation | KVM | KVM (AWS Nitro) |
| Hourly billing | Yes | Yes |
| NVMe storage | Yes | No |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Paid | Paid |
| Managed option | No | No |
| Payment methods | card, paypal, crypto, alipay, wire, other | card, sepa, other |
| Money-back | Not published | Not published |
| Uptime SLA | 100% | 99.99% region-level (multi-AZ deployment); 99.5% per single instance |
| Trustpilot | 1.6 (585 reviews) | 1.3 (429 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 2014, West Palm Beach US | 2006, Seattle US |
Highlighted cells mark the better value where the comparison is objective (lower price, more locations, higher rating).
Plans at the same size
The closest matching plans by RAM from each provider.
| RAM | Vultr | $/month | Lightsail | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 1 GB (vc2-1c-1gb) (1 vCPU, 25 GB) | $5.00 | Linux 1 GB (2 vCPU, 40 GB) | $7.00 |
| 2 GB | Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 2 GB (vc2-1c-2gb) (1 vCPU, 55 GB) | $10.00 | Linux 2 GB (2 vCPU, 60 GB) | $12.00 |
| 4 GB | Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB (vc2-2c-4gb) (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $20.00 | Linux 4 GB (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $24.00 |
| 8 GB | Regular Performance 4 vCPU / 8 GB (vc2-4c-8gb) (4 vCPU, 160 GB) | $40.00 | Linux 8 GB (2 vCPU, 160 GB) | $44.00 |
| 16 GB | no plan | — | Linux 16 GB (4 vCPU, 320 GB) | $84.00 |
Locations
Vultr operates 32 locations (Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America); Amazon Lightsail operates 19 (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America).
Cities both offer: Frankfurt, London, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo.
Only Vultr: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bangalore, Chicago, Dallas, Delhi, Honolulu, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Madrid and 12 more.
Only Lightsail: Ashburn, Columbus, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Portland and Zaragoza.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vultr or Amazon Lightsail better?
As of October 23, 2026, Vultr wins more of the head-to-head checks (9 vs 0) and ranks higher overall (#10 of 160). Vultr is cheaper to start ($2.50 vs $5.00 a month) and Vultr has more locations (32 vs 19).
Is Vultr cheaper than Amazon Lightsail?
Vultr has the lower entry price: $2.50 against $5.00 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, Vultr or Amazon Lightsail?
Vultr, with 32 locations in 19 countries versus 19 at Amazon Lightsail. Both operate in Frankfurt, London, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo and 5 more.
Do Vultr and Amazon Lightsail offer Windows VPS?
Both offer Windows Server.
Sources
Prices, plans and locations were read from these pages; last checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.