Lightweight, secure Alpine servers on fast SSD KVM — deployed in one click.
Alpine Linux idles in tens of megabytes, boots in seconds and ships almost nothing you did not ask for. Pick the Alpine template, SSH in, and run Docker, nginx, WireGuard or your own services on dedicated vCPU, RAM and SSD storage — with full root access and free DDoS protection.
Alpine Linux is an independent, non-commercial Linux distribution designed to be small, simple and secure. Instead of the GNU toolchain used by Debian, Ubuntu and most other distributions, it is built on musl libc and BusyBox, uses OpenRC instead of systemd, and installs software with its own fast package manager, apk.
The result is a complete server operating system that fits in a few megabytes. That is why Alpine is the base image for a large share of official Docker images — and why it is such a good fit for a VPS, where every megabyte of RAM and every second of boot time is yours to spend on your own workload.
Classic install to disk — what our template uses
System in RAM, data on disk
Everything in RAM, config saved with lbu
Unmanaged KVM VPS with dedicated resources and the one-click Alpine template — the same plans as our VPS (Unmanaged) range. Alpine's small footprint makes even the entry plan go a long way.
Simple monthly billing · No setup fees · Cancel anytime
Proxy, VPN, DNS — Alpine’s sweet spot
Billed as VPS Premium Intel 1GB · Alpine template included
Order Alpine 1GBSmall apps and a few containers
Billed as VPS Premium Intel 2GB · Alpine template included
Order Alpine 2GBProduction Docker and APIs
Billed as VPS Premium Intel 2GB-2vCPU · Alpine template included
Order Alpine 2GB · 2 vCPUContainer hosts and databases
Billed as VPS Premium Intel 4GB · Alpine template included
Order Alpine 4GBk3s, CI runners, heavier stacks
Billed as VPS Premium Intel 8GB · Alpine template included
Order Alpine 8GBBig container fleets and databases
Billed as VPS Unmanaged 32GB · Alpine template included
Order Alpine 32GBEvery Alpine VPS includes
Prices in USD. These are the same unmanaged plans as our KVM cloud VPS — Alpine is your operating-system choice.
Alpine was built for exactly the kind of machine a VPS is: small, network-facing and doing one job well.
The Alpine base system is a few megabytes and idles in roughly 30–50 MB of RAM, so even a 1 GB VPS has almost all of its memory free for your workload.
Userland binaries are compiled as position-independent executables with stack-smashing protection, and a fresh install runs only what you enable.
A compact, standards-focused C library and one multi-call userland binary replace the GNU stack — fewer moving parts, faster boots, smaller images.
A simple, dependency-based init system. Services are readable scripts managed with rc-service and rc-update — no systemd involved.
Installs, removals and upgrades finish in seconds, and the main and community repositories cover most server software you will need.
A new stable branch every May and November, each supported for about two years, plus the rolling edge branch for the newest packages.
Alpine is the base of a huge share of official container images, so running it as the host keeps the whole stack consistent. apk add docker docker-cli-compose, enable it with rc-update and you have a lean container host with almost no RAM spent on the operating system. It also makes a clean single-node k3s server for small Kubernetes workloads.
Alpine ships no extra daemons, no desktop components and no unused services. What runs is what you added. Combine that with our always-on network DDoS protection, key-only SSH and nftables or awall firewall rules, and an Alpine VPS is one of the easiest servers to lock down and keep locked down.
Every Alpine VPS is a full KVM virtual machine — your own kernel, dedicated vCPU and RAM, and SSD storage. Alpine boots in a few seconds and apk operations are near-instant on SSD, which makes it ideal for servers you rebuild often, CI runners and auto-scaled services.
Alpine needs remarkably little. Even our smallest plan leaves plenty of headroom.
Alpine minimum
about 128 MB minimum
TOSHOST plans
1 GB — 32 GB
Alpine minimum
under 1 GB for a basic server install
TOSHOST plans
35 GB — 700 GB SSD
Alpine minimum
any x86_64 core
TOSHOST plans
1 — 16 vCPU
Alpine minimum
one IPv4 or IPv6 address
TOSHOST plans
Dedicated IPv4 + IPv6
All three run on every plan. This is where they differ in practice.
| Leanest Alpine Linux | Debian | Ubuntu Server | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base install size | ~5 MB (minirootfs) | ~300–600 MB | ~1–2 GB |
| Idle RAM (approx.) | ~30–50 MB | ~100–150 MB | ~250–400 MB |
| C library | musl | glibc | glibc |
| Init system | OpenRC | systemd | systemd |
| Package manager | apk | apt / dpkg | apt / dpkg + snap |
| Release cadence | Every 6 months, ~2 yrs support | ~2 years, ~5 yrs LTS | 2 years LTS |
| Best for | Containers, proxies, VPN, edge | General-purpose servers | Broad vendor support |
Sizes and memory are typical approximations for a minimal server install and vary with configuration.
Run containers on the distribution most official images are built on, with a host OS that stays out of the way.
nginx, HAProxy, Caddy or Traefik in front of your apps, using a sliver of RAM.
A private VPN endpoint in minutes — WireGuard is in the kernel and the tools are one apk add away.
Unbound, CoreDNS or dnsmasq resolvers on a server that boots in seconds.
Disposable, reproducible build machines for GitLab Runner, Woodpecker or Forgejo Actions.
Go, Rust, Node.js or Python services where every megabyte of RAM goes to the service, not the OS.
Enable the community repository and install any of these with apk.
apk add nginx
apk add docker docker-cli-compose
apk add wireguard-tools
apk add postgresql
apk add redis
apk add nodejs npm
apk add python3 py3-pip
apk add go
apk add caddy
apk add haproxy
apk add unbound
apk add k3s
From order to a hardened server running Docker in four steps.
Choose a plan below. Your KVM VPS is provisioned automatically with a dedicated IPv4 address and full root access.
Pick Alpine Linux from the OS templates. Your server boots a ready cloud image with cloud-init, working DNS and the QEMU guest agent already enabled — no installer to run.
SSH in as root, enable the community repository, run apk upgrade, add your SSH key and turn off password logins.
apk add docker, nginx or wireguard-tools, enable the service with rc-update, and you are live.
# 1. Deploy with the Alpine Linux template, then:
$ ssh root@your-vps-ip
# 2. Enable the community repo and update
# sed -i '/community$/s/^#//' /etc/apk/repositories
# apk update && apk upgrade
# 3. Key-only SSH
# echo "ssh-ed25519 AAAA… you" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
# sed -i 's/^#\?PasswordAuthentication.*/PasswordAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
# rc-service sshd restart
# 4. Docker, started at boot
# apk add docker docker-cli-compose
# rc-update add docker default && rc-service docker startComing from apt and systemctl? These are the commands you will use every day.
apk update
Refresh the package index
apk upgrade
Upgrade all installed packages
apk add <pkg>
Install a package
apk del <pkg>
Remove a package
apk search <name>
Search the repositories
apk info -vv
List installed packages with versions
rc-update add <svc> default
Start a service at boot
rc-service <svc> restart
Start, stop or restart a service
rc-status
Show the state of all services
setup-apkrepos
Choose mirrors and enable repositories
cat /etc/alpine-release
Show the installed Alpine version
apk add gcompat
glibc compatibility layer for some binaries
You get full control of the operating system. We keep everything underneath it running.
Prefer us to run the server? See managed VPS hosting. Protecting a website or API? Add Layer 7 DDoS protection. New to servers? Read what a VPS is.
One-click Alpine template, KVM, SSD, full root and free DDoS protection — from $8/mo.