How Much Does a Vintage Story Server Cost in 2026?
Checked on 14 October 2026 against the official Vintage Story store and the developers' own server hardware estimate.
A rented Vintage Story server costs roughly $5 to $28 per month for most groups, and where you land depends on how many players you have, how far they spread out and how many mods you run. This page covers what the game itself costs, the developers' own estimate of what a server needs, each price tier, and whether self-hosting is worth it.
What the game itself costs
On the official store a Vintage Story game account costs 20.00 EUR (VAT included). It is a one-time purchase that includes all future updates, multiplayer, the mod database and the server software for hosting a game on your own computer. A giftable account is also 20.00 EUR, a Family Pack of four accounts is 65.00 EUR, and the optional Supporter Addon is 12.00 EUR. Every player needs their own account, so a server for six friends means six copies of the game, plus whatever the server costs.
What you actually pay per month
| Tier | Monthly | Players | What it realistically covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $5-10 | 2-8 | Vanilla world, small group. |
| Standard | $10-18 | 8-16 | Vanilla or a modest mod list on a developed world. |
| Performance | $18-28 | 16+ | Large mod list and a long-running world. |
These are market ranges across reputable hosts in 2026, not a single provider's price list. Anything far below the budget column is usually shared hardware that will disappoint at peak; anything far above the premium column should come with something specific attached, such as managed admin support.
How much RAM a Vintage Story server actually needs
The developers publish a rough, conservative estimate for a dedicated server running a normal survival world where players spread out: 1 GB of memory plus 300 MB per player, and a CPU with 4 threads at 1 GHz plus 150 MHz per player. Worked out:
| Players | Memory | CPU clock |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2.2 GB | 1.6 GHz |
| 8 | 3.4 GB | 2.2 GHz |
| 12 | 4.6 GB | 2.8 GHz |
| 16 | 5.8 GB | 3.4 GHz |
The estimate assumes a normal survival world, and the developers say some tuning can lower it. Mods come on top, and a big mod list can matter more than a few extra players.
What drives the price
- Mods. They add memory on top of the official estimate, and Vintage Story mod lists tend to grow.
- How far players spread out. The server keeps chunks loaded around every player, so a group that splits up across the map needs more memory than one that stays together. Explored land itself lives on disk, in a save file that keeps growing.
- Long-lived worlds. Vintage Story worlds are usually played for months, so size for the mature world.
- Player count. The official estimate adds 300 MB of memory and 150 MHz of CPU for every player.
Self-hosting versus renting
Vintage Story is a realistic self-host option for a small group. The memory needs are modest and the server software comes with the game; on Linux the dedicated server needs GLIBC 2.28 or newer, according to the official system requirements. The developers also suggest running sudo sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144 there if the server crashes from running out of memory.
The honest arithmetic for self-hosting any game server looks like this:
| Item | Approximate annual cost |
|---|---|
| Electricity for a machine running 24/7 | $120-350/year depending on hardware and local rates |
| Internet capable of hosting | $0-300/year, more if you need a business tier or static IP |
| Hardware, amortised | $150-400/year |
| Your time | 10-30 hours/year on updates, crashes and backups |
That puts realistic self-hosting somewhere around $300-1000 per year before your time is counted. A $17 per month rented plan is roughly $204 per year. Self-hosting wins when you already have the hardware running anyway and your group is small. Renting wins when you want the world online while you are asleep.
Hidden costs worth checking before you buy
- Setup fees. Reputable hosts charge nothing to set up.
- Backups as a paid add-on. Automated backups with real retention should be included, not sold separately.
- FTP or file access behind a paywall. Should be standard.
- Mod or plugin installation charged per action. Should be included.
- Support tiers. If basic support costs extra, that is a red flag rather than a feature.
- Long contract lock-ins. A one-month minimum is normal. Be careful with forced annual commitments.
- Slot upgrades that force a full plan change rather than an in-place resize.
Quick decision guide
- Small group, vanilla, occasional sessions: the budget tier at $5-10 is enough. Do not overbuy.
- The usual case, a settled group on a developing world: $10-18. This is where most Vintage Story servers belong.
- Heavy use, mods, or a long-running world: $18-28. Size for the mature world, not the fresh one.
- You already run a machine 24/7 and the group is small: self-hosting is genuinely worth pricing out first.
Related Vintage Story guides
Supercraft Vintage Story hosting runs on AMD EPYC hardware with NVMe storage, automated backups, multiple regions, in-place plan upgrades and a 2-day refund window. Cancel any time. Live pricing for your region is on the plan page.