IONOS Cloud Compute Engine
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What is IONOS Cloud Compute Engine
IONOS Cloud Compute Engine is an infrastructure-as-a-service offering that provides virtual machines and related cloud infrastructure components for running applications and workloads. It targets teams that need on-demand compute with options to attach block storage, connect private networks, and integrate with other IONOS Cloud services such as load balancing and object storage. The service is positioned for users who want a European cloud provider option and prefer managing infrastructure through an API, CLI, and web console. It fits common DevOps and hosting use cases, including web applications, development/test environments, and scalable backend services.
Core IaaS building blocks
The product provides virtual machine instances with configurable CPU/RAM, plus supporting services such as block storage, networking, and load balancing within the same cloud environment. This makes it suitable for standard IaaS patterns like multi-tier web apps and lift-and-shift server workloads. It also supports automation through APIs and tooling, which helps infrastructure teams standardize provisioning. For organizations that do not want a higher-level platform abstraction, the VM-centric model remains straightforward.
EU-focused cloud option
IONOS Cloud operates data centers in Europe and positions its cloud services for customers with European data residency and compliance considerations. This can be relevant for regulated industries and public-sector-adjacent workloads that prefer EU hosting. The vendor also offers related services (e.g., networking and storage) under the same account and billing relationship, which can simplify procurement. For teams comparing providers, the regional footprint can be a practical differentiator.
Integrates with broader IONOS stack
Compute Engine can be used alongside other IONOS offerings such as object storage, private networking (VPC-style constructs), and managed services available in the IONOS Cloud portfolio. This supports building end-to-end environments without stitching together multiple vendors for basic infrastructure components. It also aligns with common DevOps workflows where compute, storage, and network resources are provisioned together. Organizations already using IONOS for hosting or domains can consolidate infrastructure under one provider.
Less mature cloud ecosystem
Compared with the largest cloud platforms, the surrounding ecosystem of managed services, third-party integrations, and marketplace options is typically smaller. This can increase the amount of self-management required for databases, observability, and advanced security tooling. Teams that rely heavily on a broad catalog of managed services may need additional vendors or more operational effort. The impact is most visible in complex, cloud-native architectures.
Kubernetes/container scope varies
Although the product is listed across container-related categories, Compute Engine itself is primarily VM infrastructure; container orchestration generally requires separate services or self-managed clusters on VMs. Organizations expecting a fully managed container platform as the default experience may find they need additional setup and operational ownership. This can affect time-to-production for containerized workloads. Buyers should confirm which container features are native versus built on top of VMs.
Global footprint may be limited
For globally distributed applications, the number of regions and edge locations can be a deciding factor. If required regions are not available, teams may need multi-provider architectures or accept higher latency for some users. This also affects disaster recovery planning when geographic separation requirements are strict. Regional availability should be validated against the organization’s deployment and compliance needs.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (hourly / per-GB / per-30-days billing). Savings Plans (1- and 3-year) available for compute resources.
Free tier/trial: $200 free credit for 30 days (trial) when signing up; no general permanently free Compute Engine tier documented (some specific services/features may be free, see notes).
Example costs (selected, official):
- Dedicated Core (pay-as-you-go): $0.045–$0.056 per core / hr (varies by CPU family).
- RAM (Dedicated Core): $0.0071 per GB / hr.
- vCPU servers (example baseline): 1 vCPU = $0.013 per hr; RAM baseline price $0.0022 per GB / hr.
- Cloud Cubes (preconfigured instances):
- Basic Cube XS: $0.008 per hr ($5.76 per 30 days).
- Basic Cube S: $0.014 per hr ($10.08 per 30 days).
- Basic Cube M: $0.026 per hr ($18.72 per 30 days).
- Basic Cube L: $0.048 per hr ($34.56 per 30 days).
- Basic Cube XL: $0.091 per hr ($65.52 per 30 days).
- Memory Cubes (examples):
- Memory Cube S: $0.019 per hr ($13.68 per 30 days).
- Memory Cube M: $0.035 per hr ($25.20 per 30 days).
- Memory Cube L: $0.067 per hr ($48.24 per 30 days).
- Memory Cube XL: $0.125 per hr ($90.00 per 30 days).
- Block Storage (SSD premium): $0.17 per GB / 30 days (SSD Standard $0.08/GB/30 days; HDD $0.0533/GB/30 days).
- Object Storage: $0.00487 per GB / 30 days; data storage & retrieval listed as free in many cases but egress / traffic pricing applies separately.
- Private Container Registry storage: $0.048 per GB / 30 days; Vulnerability Scanning add-on $0.022 per GB / 30 days.
Savings Plans (examples):
- Dedicated Core 1-year: $0.0370 per core / hr; 3-year: $0.0261 per core / hr.
- RAM 1-year: $0.0041 per GB / hr; 3-year: $0.0029 per GB / hr.
Notes & limitations:
- Microsoft and RHEL license fees are charged hourly on top of compute (examples: Windows Server $0.0175/vCPU/hr; RHEL fees vary by vCPU tier).
- Some individual services/features (e.g., DDoS Protect Basic, Flow Logs, MongoDB Playground first instance) are explicitly indicated as free on the vendor site, but the Compute Engine product itself is billed pay-as-you-go.
(All prices taken from IONOS Cloud official pricing and Compute product pages.)
Seller details
IONOS SE
Montabaur, Germany
1988
Public
https://www.ionos.com/
https://x.com/ionos_com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ionos/
