- Tihost, Timeweb Cloud and Selectel differ above all in geography: Tihost VPS run in Germany, Finland and Poland, Timeweb Cloud in Russia, Germany (Frankfurt), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Kazakhstan, and Selectel in data centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
- Tihost prices are fixed in US dollars - from $4.00 a month - while Timeweb Cloud and Selectel list prices in rubles: a Timeweb Cloud server in Germany starts at 710 RUB a month and a Selectel VPS/VDS at 200 RUB a month (per their websites on October 5, 2026).
- A VPS can be paid with crypto (USDT, BTC, TON) at Tihost; the Timeweb Cloud and Selectel websites list bank cards, YooMoney and bank transfers as payment methods, and crypto is not listed.
- Timeweb Cloud and Selectel charge for servers every hour, while a Tihost VPS is paid for 30 days or 3, 6 or 12 months upfront with up to 20% off.
- DDoS protection works differently: Tihost includes network-level protection in every VPS price, Selectel provides basic L3-L4 protection free for all products, and at Timeweb Cloud DDoS protection is a separate service priced on request.
How Tihost, Timeweb Cloud and Selectel differ
The main difference is where the servers are and which currency you pay in. Timeweb Cloud and Selectel are cloud providers with data centers in Russia and ruble prices; Tihost is VPS in three European countries priced in dollars. The rest is in the table.
| Parameter | Tihost | Timeweb Cloud | Selectel |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is compared | KVM VPS | Cloud servers, Premium 3.3 GHz line | VPS/VDS - 7 fixed KVM configurations |
| Locations in Russia | None | St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk | Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region; a partner data center in Novosibirsk |
| Locations in Europe | Germany (Falkenstein), Finland (Helsinki), Poland (Warsaw) | Germany (Frankfurt), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) | Not listed on the website |
| Price currency | US dollars | Rubles | Rubles; the prices page says prices include 22% VAT |
| Cheapest configuration | From $4.00 a month | DE-15 in Germany (1 core / 1 GB / 15 GB) - 710 RUB a month | VDS 1-1-10 (1 vCPU / 1 GB / 10 GB) - 200 RUB a month |
| Payment methods | Crypto (USDT, BTC, TON and more), Russian card, SBP | Bank cards (including foreign), SBP, YooMoney, SberPay, bank receipt or invoice | Individuals: YooMoney, MIR cards and Russian Visa/Mastercard, transfer; companies: cards, SBP, transfer |
| Crypto | Yes | Not listed on the website | Not listed on the website |
| Billing | Per 30 days; 10, 15 and 20% off for 3, 6 and 12 months | Hourly, 50 RUB minimum payment; 5, 7 and 10% off for 3, 6 and 12 months | Hourly; 200 RUB minimum top-up |
| Sign-up | Email, Google or Telegram, no KYC | Document requirements not stated on the website | Email and phone confirmed by code; personal account (individuals) or business account (companies, sole proprietors) |
| DDoS protection | Network-level protection included in the price | Separate service (L3, L4, L7), priced on request | Basic L3-L4 free for all products; L7 from 2,600 RUB a month |
| Management | Web panel, Telegram bot, VNC console, API | Panel, API, CLI, Terraform, cloud-init | Panel, API, Terraform |
How much a VPS costs at Tihost, Timeweb Cloud and Selectel
The three providers' configurations don't match one to one, so the table shows the closest ones by core count and memory. The currencies differ: Tihost charges in US dollars, Timeweb Cloud and Selectel in rubles, and any conversion depends on the exchange rate on the day you pay. Tihost is shown for Germany, Timeweb Cloud also for Germany with 1-month billing and no discount, Selectel for its VPS/VDS line (Moscow and St. Petersburg).
| Class | Tihost, Germany (USD/mo) | Timeweb Cloud, Germany (RUB/mo) | Selectel VPS/VDS (RUB/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 vCPU / 2 GB | 1 vCPU / 2 GB / 40 GB NVMe - $4.00 | DE-30: 1 core / 2 GB / 30 GB NVMe - 1,010 RUB | VDS 1-2-25: 1 vCPU / 2 GB / 25 GB - 250 RUB |
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB | 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB NVMe - $7.70 | DE-50: 2 cores / 4 GB / 50 GB NVMe - 1,700 RUB | VDS 2-4-50: 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 50 GB - 650 RUB |
| 4 vCPU / 8 GB | 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 180 GB NVMe - $15.40 | DE-80: 4 cores / 8 GB / 80 GB NVMe - 2,960 RUB | VDS 4-8-80: 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 80 GB - 1,100 RUB |
| 6-8 vCPU / 12 GB | 6 vCPU / 12 GB / 240 GB NVMe - $24.00 | DE-100: 8 cores / 12 GB / 100 GB NVMe - 4,520 RUB | VDS 6-12-120: 6 vCPU / 12 GB / 120 GB - 2,000 RUB |
| 8 vCPU / 16 GB | 8 vCPU / 16 GB / 300 GB NVMe - $32.00 | DE-160: 8 cores / 16 GB / 160 GB NVMe - 5,720 RUB | VDS 8-16-160: 8 vCPU / 16 GB / 160 GB - 3,000 RUB |
A few more points from the plans pages. Timeweb Cloud's same classes are cheaper in St. Petersburg than in Germany: Cloud-40 (2 cores / 2 GB / 40 GB) is 1,000 RUB, Cloud-50 (2 / 4 GB / 50 GB) 1,200 RUB and Cloud-80 (4 / 8 GB / 80 GB) 2,000 RUB a month, with 10% off for 12-month billing. Timeweb Cloud's German plans come with a 200 Mbps channel, the St. Petersburg ones with 1 Gbps. Selectel lists Intel Xeon Gold 6240R CPUs and 3 TB of free outbound traffic a month per account for VPS/VDS; Selectel cloud servers with per-resource billing start at 948.50 RUB a month. Tihost's price includes a larger NVMe disk, 1 Gbps networking in Germany and Finland and up to 10 Gbps in Poland; every configuration is in the plans comparison.
Where the servers are: Russia or Europe
If your users are in Russia and you need a Russian IP address, Timeweb Cloud and Selectel are the closest fit: both have data centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Timeweb Cloud also in Novosibirsk and Selectel a partner one there. If you need a server in Europe, the choice is Timeweb Cloud (Frankfurt, Amsterdam) or Tihost (Falkenstein, Helsinki, Warsaw); Selectel does not list European locations on its website. How to choose between Germany, Finland and Poland is covered in Which country to host your VPS in.
How to pay: rubles, Russian cards, crypto
- Timeweb Cloud accepts bank cards (including foreign ones), SBP, YooMoney, SberPay, and a bank receipt or invoice; prices and the balance are in rubles.
- Selectel lists YooMoney, bank transfers, MIR cards and Russian Visa/Mastercard for individuals, and cards, SBP and transfers for companies; prices are in rubles.
- Tihost keeps the balance in US dollars and tops it up with crypto (USDT, BTC, TON and other coins) or a Russian card and SBP; all methods and fees are in How to pay for a VPS with crypto.
What you need to sign up
At Selectel, according to its documentation, you confirm your email and phone number with a code and choose an account type - personal for individuals or business for companies, sole proprietors and public institutions; the type cannot be changed later. Timeweb Cloud does not state any document requirements for sign-up on its cloud servers page or in its FAQ. At Tihost an email, Google or Telegram account is enough - no KYC and no document uploads.
Hourly or monthly billing
Timeweb Cloud and Selectel bill servers by the hour: money leaves the balance every hour, so a server you need for a couple of days costs less than a month. The minimum payment at Timeweb Cloud is 50 RUB, the minimum top-up at Selectel is 200 RUB. Tihost sells VPS by period: 30 days, 3, 6 or 12 months with 10, 15 and 20% off - the price is known upfront and doesn't depend on how many hours the server runs.
DDoS protection and server management
- DDoS protection. Tihost includes network-level protection in every VPS price. Selectel includes basic L3-L4 protection free for all products, and protection up to L7 costs from 2,600 RUB a month. Timeweb Cloud sells L3, L4 and L7 protection as a separate service and prices it on request.
- Panel and automation. Timeweb Cloud has a control panel, API, CLI, Terraform and cloud-init. Selectel has a panel, API and Terraform. Tihost has a web panel, the @tihost_bot Telegram bot, a browser VNC console and a public API; details are in What's included in a Tihost VPS.
When Timeweb Cloud is the better choice
- You need servers in both Russia and Europe from one provider: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Almaty.
- You want hourly billing in rubles by card, SBP, YooMoney or SberPay.
- You are a company: Timeweb Cloud works with e-document exchange (SBIS), and closing documents arrive monthly through it.
- Beyond servers you need cloud services: databases, Kubernetes, S3 storage, load balancers, CDN, plus automation via CLI and Terraform.
When Selectel is the better choice
- You need an inexpensive server in Moscow or St. Petersburg paid in rubles: a Selectel VPS/VDS starts at 200 RUB a month.
- You process personal data under Russia's Federal Law 152-FZ: Selectel states compliance of its cloud servers up to protection level UZ-1, certified cloud segments and PCI DSS (the VPS/VDS line itself, per Selectel's FAQ, is not 152-FZ compliant).
- You are a company or sole proprietor: Selectel has a separate business account and payment methods for companies.
- You need a large infrastructure: Selectel cites more than 50 products - dedicated servers, Managed Kubernetes, S3, cloud databases, GPU servers.
When Tihost is the better choice
- You need a server in Europe - Germany, Finland or Poland - at a fixed price from $4.00 a month.
- You prefer paying with crypto or keeping your balance in dollars.
- You want sign-up without KYC - by email, Google or Telegram - and server management from a Telegram bot.
- You want DDoS protection at no extra cost and up to 450 GB of NVMe on one server; the ordering steps are in the VPS buying guide.
AMD Ryzen 9, NVMe and DDoS protection in Germany, Finland and Poland. Pay with crypto or card.
FAQ
Which is cheaper: Tihost, Timeweb Cloud or Selectel?
Prices can't be compared directly because the currencies differ: a Tihost VPS with 2 vCPU / 4 GB in Germany costs $7.70 a month, a Timeweb Cloud server with 2 cores / 4 GB in Germany 1,700 RUB, and Selectel's VDS 2-4-50 in Russia 650 RUB (data as of October 5, 2026).
Which of them has servers in Europe?
Tihost VPS run in Germany, Finland and Poland, Timeweb Cloud cloud servers in Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Selectel does not list European locations on its website: its data centers are in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
Can I pay Timeweb Cloud or Selectel with crypto?
The official Timeweb Cloud and Selectel websites do not list crypto among payment methods: both accept bank cards, YooMoney and bank transfers. A Tihost VPS can be paid with crypto - USDT, BTC, TON and other coins.
Does Tihost have hourly billing like Timeweb Cloud and Selectel?
No, a Tihost VPS is paid for 30 days or 3, 6 or 12 months upfront with up to 20% off. Hourly billing is offered by Timeweb Cloud (50 RUB minimum payment) and Selectel (200 RUB minimum top-up).
What do I need to sign up?
Tihost only needs an email, Google or Telegram account, with no KYC. Selectel asks you to confirm your email and phone with a code and choose a personal or business account; Timeweb Cloud does not state document requirements on its website.
Is DDoS protection included in the price?
Tihost includes network-level DDoS protection in every VPS price, and Selectel provides basic L3-L4 protection free for all products. Timeweb Cloud sells DDoS protection as a separate service priced on request.