Day 2 of 14 · VPS + OpenClaw
Choosing a VPS Provider
⏱ 5 min
📊 Beginner
Yesterday you learned why self-hosting matters. Today you pick where your server will live. A VPS provider is a company that rents you a small virtual computer in their data center. There are dozens of providers, but we will focus on three that are reliable, affordable, and beginner-friendly.
All three providers offer plans that can run OpenClaw comfortably.
The Top Three Picks
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the providers we recommend:
| Provider | Cheapest Plan | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Data Centers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hetzner | ~$4/mo | 1 | 1 GB | 20 GB SSD | EU, US |
| Linode | ~$5/mo | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB SSD | Worldwide |
| DigitalOcean | ~$6/mo | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB SSD | Worldwide |
All three are excellent choices. Hetzner is the cheapest, Linode has the most data center locations, and DigitalOcean has the most beginner-friendly dashboard. If you have no strong preference, go with whichever one is closest to your physical location — this reduces network latency.
What Specs Does OpenClaw Need?
OpenClaw is lightweight. The heavy AI processing happens on OpenAI's or Anthropic's servers (via their API), not on your VPS. Your server just needs to run Node.js and keep a few background processes alive. Here are the minimum specs:
- 1 vCPU — a single virtual processor core is plenty.
- 1 GB RAM — OpenClaw idles at around 200-300 MB of memory.
- 25 GB SSD — the operating system, Docker, and OpenClaw together use about 5 GB. The rest is headroom for logs and data.
That means the cheapest tier at any of these providers is enough. You do not need to spend more unless you plan to run additional services on the same server later.
Knowledge Check
What is the minimum RAM recommended for running OpenClaw on a VPS?
OpenClaw idles at around 200-300 MB of memory, so 1 GB of RAM is sufficient. The cheapest plan at any recommended provider meets this requirement.
Knowledge Check
Why does OpenClaw not need a powerful VPS?
A
Because it only runs once a day
B
Because it does not use the internet
C
Because the heavy AI processing happens on OpenAI's or Anthropic's API servers
D
Because it compresses all data automatically
Your VPS only runs the agent framework itself. The computationally expensive AI inference is handled by the API provider's servers, so your VPS does not need much horsepower.
Knowledge Check
Which factor should influence your choice of data center region?
A
The region with the highest price
B
The newest data center available
C
The region with the most users
D
The region closest to your physical location
Choosing a data center close to you reduces network latency, which means faster response times when you interact with your server.
I'm in Europe. Which provider do you recommend?
Great question! Hetzner is based in Germany and has data centers in Falkenstein, Nuremberg, and Helsinki. At ~$4/month it's also the cheapest option.
DigitalOcean and Linode both have European data centers too (London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam), but they cost a bit more.
For a European user on a budget, Hetzner is a solid pick. You'll get low latency and save a couple euros each month. 🦞
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🖥️
Day 2 Complete
"A $4-6/month VPS with 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, and 25 GB SSD is all you need to run OpenClaw around the clock."
Tomorrow — Day 3
Creating Your VPS Instance
Walk through creating your first cloud server step by step, from sign-up to a running instance.