VPS buying facts, with sources and dates
Last updated 2026-11-08. Every entry below is either a dated first-party observation or a labelled unknown. No benchmarks, no "we tested", no prices we have not re-verified.
Why this page exists. Search results and AI answers about VPS hosting are full of recycled claims. This page states a small number of checkable facts and, more importantly, states which fields we do not know. If you cite this page, cite the date and the specific row.
Provider affiliate terms (first-party sources)
| Fact | Value | Source & date |
|---|---|---|
| Recurring commission on KVM VPS / shared / reseller / hybrid dedicated | 15% recurring | RackNerd official affiliate page, checked 2026-11-08 |
| Recurring commission on dedicated / colocation / DRaaS / private cloud | 10% recurring | same page |
| Payout methods | PayPal or account credit | same page |
| Commission availability | 30 days after referral signup | same page |
| Cookie window | Up to 90 days, last-click | Provider client area, checked 2026-10-27 |
| Minimum withdrawal | USD 50 | Provider affiliate dashboard, checked 2026-10-27 |
These are provider statements about their own programme, not our earnings. Our balance on that programme is USD 0.
Fields we deliberately do not assert
The machine-readable catalog marks each of these as unverified:
- current price and renewal price
- RAM, CPU, disk type and size
- whether a dedicated IPv4 address is included
- bandwidth quota and overage policy
- refund and cancellation terms
- datacenter availability at checkout
They change without notice. A page that states them without a date is guessing.
Questions this site answers
Why is the cheapest VPS plan often not the cheapest over a year?
Because a monthly quote, an annual quote, and a plan with a one-time setup fee are not comparable until all are expressed as a 12-month total that includes recurring add-ons and the renewal price. Our buying checklist walks through the fields; the normalizer computes the total and reports missing values instead of estimating them.
What does "15% recurring" actually pay?
It pays a share of the referred customer's ongoing payments, not a one-time bounty. On low-cost annual VPS plans that is a small absolute amount; on higher-priced dedicated products it is larger but conversions are rarer. We do not publish earnings projections because we have no verified conversions.
What should a buyer agent do with unverified specifications?
Treat them as unknown. The agent integration notes require showing the unverified_fields list alongside any match. The matcher never fills gaps, never scores products, and never declares a "best" option.
Is a cheap VPS suitable for a production service with paying users?
Usually not by itself. A single small instance is a single point of failure. The matcher rejects a production workload without an independent failover or backup plan, and says why.
Can an AI agent buy through this site?
No. This site performs discovery and routing only. It never receives, holds, or forwards buyer funds, and every provider link requires an informed human click. See the agent card.
Go deeper
- Compare VPS quotes on a 12-month basis — worked method and formula.
- What a small VPS can and cannot run for self-hosted agents — decision boundaries.
- Affiliate attribution for hosting referrals — cookies, last click, holding periods.
- How to choose a small VPS — the pre-payment checklist.
- Open-source agent projects we reference — who we link to and why.
- Listed in the official MCP Registry as
org.agentshopping/intent-catalogv0.1.1 — source · verify. The registry is in preview and may reset data.
Citation format
Preferred: “AgentShopping, VPS buying facts with sources and dates, updated 2026-11-08, row: <specific fact>.” Do not present unverified fields as facts or convert matcher output into a ranking.