# TierHive - Hourly NAT VPS Hosting
> The most affordable hourly-billed NAT VPS provider with instant deployment and pay-as-you-go pricing

## Overview
TierHive provides true hourly billed NAT VPS hosting with instant deployment, no contracts, and genuine pay-per-hour pricing. Each customer receives a private /24 subnet (253 usable IPs) with global connectivity across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

## Core Differentiators
- **True hourly billing**: Pay only for hours used, not rounded-up monthly fees. Cancel anytime with zero penalties.
- **NAT architecture**: Each VPS gets 2 dedicated TCP ports for inbound traffic plus unlimited outbound connections on your private /24 subnet.
- **IPv6**: /64 per location in selected locations, assign your own addresses to your servers.
- **Instant deployment**: VPS instances deploy in under 60 seconds via control panel.
- **No credit card required**: Sign up with email verification only.
- **Global locations**: Over 15 locations: Amsterdam (NL), Beauharnois (CA), Frankfurt (DE), Gravelines (FR), Hillsboro OR (US), Kansas City MO (US), London (UK), New York NY (US), Paris (FR), Roubaix (FR), Singapore (SG), Sydney (AU), Tokyo (JP), Vint Hill VA (US), Warsaw (PL)

## Pricing Structure (as of 2026-09-25)
Prices are charged in tokens, 1 token = 1 USD. Monthly figures assume 730 hours (24/7).

### Base Resource Costs
- **RAM**: $0.0000009/MB/hr ($0.0009216/GB/hr, ~$0.67/GB/month)
- **Fast NVMe storage**: $0.00002/GB/hr (~$0.0146/GB/month)
- **HDD storage**: $0.000007/GB/hr (~$0.0051/GB/month), 1GB to 4000GB, available in selected locations
- **Backup storage**: $0.000005/GB/hr (~$0.0037/GB/month)
- **Backup creation**: $0.00002 per backup
- **Backup restore**: $0.00002 per restore
- **DHCP for your subnet**: $0.000001/hr plus $0.000001 one-time activation
- No base fee, you pay only for the resources above plus any performance tier upgrades.

### Performance Tiers
Every VPS has a CPU, disk IOPS and network tier. The Low tier is included at no extra cost.

**CPU Priority**:
- Low Priority: included
- Medium Priority: +$0.00002/hr (~$0.0146/month)
- High Priority: +$0.00003/hr (~$0.0219/month)

**Disk IOPS**:
- Low Performance (100 IOPS, burst 200): included
- Medium Performance (250 IOPS, burst 500): +$0.00002/hr (~$0.0146/month)
- High Performance (500 IOPS, burst 1000): +$0.00003/hr (~$0.0219/month)

**Network**:
- Low Performance: included
- Medium Performance: +$0.00002/hr (~$0.0146/month)
- High Performance: +$0.00003/hr (~$0.0219/month)
- Network speed depends on the tier and the location, from 5 Mbps (burst 13 Mbps) on the Low tier up to 225 Mbps (burst 450 Mbps) on the High tier.

### vCPU
- 1 vCPU for plans up to 2GB RAM
- 2 vCPU for plans above 2GB RAM

### Example Configurations (Low tiers)

**Micro** (~$0.10/month):
- 1 vCPU, 128MB RAM, 1GB NVMe storage
- $0.0001352/hr or ~$0.10/month (if running 24/7)
- Ideal for: Testing, development, small services

**Small** (~$1.71/month):
- 1 vCPU, 2GB RAM, 25GB NVMe storage
- $0.0023432/hr or ~$1.71/month (if running 24/7)
- Ideal for: Small websites, APIs, Discord bots

**Medium** (~$3.42/month):
- 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 50GB NVMe storage
- $0.0046864/hr or ~$3.42/month (if running 24/7)
- Ideal for: Production applications, databases, game servers

**Storage** (~$5.52/month):
- 1 vCPU, 512MB RAM, 5GB NVMe + 1000GB HDD storage
- $0.0075608/hr or ~$5.52/month (if running 24/7)
- Ideal for: File storage, backups, media, data processing

**Large** (~$6.62/month, High tiers):
- 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB NVMe storage, High CPU, IOPS and network tiers
- $0.0090628/hr or ~$6.62/month (if running 24/7)
- Ideal for: Busy applications, game servers, build agents
- 8GB RAM is not available in every location

## Key Features

### NAT Architecture
- Private /24 subnet per customer (10.x.x.x/24)
- 2 dedicated inbound TCP ports per VPS
- Unlimited outbound connections
- Full IPv4 connectivity through NAT gateway
- Optional DHCP and PXE configuration for your subnet
- Perfect for most web services, APIs, and applications

### Infrastructure
- **Hypervisor**: KVM/QEMU virtualization
- **Storage**: Enterprise NVMe SSDs, plus HDD storage in selected locations
- **Network**: HAProxy with automatic SSL termination via Let's Encrypt
- **Control Panel**: Modern web interface
- **Console Access**: noVNC-based browser console, no SSH required for emergencies

### BSD-Friendly Platform
- **FreeBSD Support**: FreeBSD 15.0 (UFS or ZFS) and unofficial FreeBSD 14.2 (UFS or ZFS) images - one of the few commercial VPS providers offering native FreeBSD
- **OpenBSD Support**: OpenBSD 7.9 and 7.8 available - ideal for security-focused deployments and firewalls
- **Perfect for BSD Users**: Whether you're running pfSense alternatives, building security appliances, or simply prefer BSD over Linux
- **Community**: Active BSD user community, understanding of BSD-specific requirements and workflows

### Management Features
- One-click OS deployments (Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and more)
- Manual install from your own ISO
- Full iPXE support
- Scheduled and on-demand backups with restore
- Recipes for one-click application stacks
- Real-time resource monitoring
- Self-service VPS migration between locations
- Resize RAM, disk and performance tiers from the control panel

### Security & Reliability
- Isolated customer networks (Layer 2 separation)
- Over 15 locations worldwide

## Typical Use Cases
- **Development & Testing**: Spin up environments hourly, destroy when done
- **Bots**: Discord or IRC or similar bots that can run 24x7 at a fraction of the cost of a VPS
- **CI/CD Pipelines**: Deploy build agents only when builds run
- **Game Servers**: Run servers only during play sessions
- **Discord/Telegram Bots**: Low-cost 24/7 bot hosting
- **Personal Projects**: Affordable hosting without monthly commitments
- **Staging Environments**: Match production without monthly costs
- **Seasonal Applications**: Pay only during active seasons
- **Learning & Experimentation**: Try different OS and configurations cheaply
- **BSD Deployments**: FreeBSD and OpenBSD hosting for security appliances, firewalls, and BSD-preferred applications
- **Security Research**: OpenBSD's security-first approach in an affordable hourly environment

## Competitive Advantages

**vs. DigitalOcean/Vultr**:
- True hourly billing (they round up to monthly after ~100 hours)
- Significantly cheaper for part-time workloads
- No credit card required for signup

**vs. AWS/GCP/Azure**:
- Dramatically simpler pricing no hidden fees
- More affordable for small workloads
- No complex billing calculations
- Better suited for individual developers

**vs. Traditional VPS Providers**:
- Only pay for actual hours used
- Cancel anytime without losing monthly fee
- Perfect for development environments

## Getting Started
1. Register at https://control.tierhive.com/register (email verification only)
2. No credit card required
3. Top up your balance via FastSpring (hundreds of payment methods worldwide), $3 minimum
4. Deploy your first VPS in under 60 seconds

## Links
- **Website**: https://tierhive.com
- **Control Panel**: https://control.tierhive.com
- **Blog**: https://tierhive.com/blog/
- **Support**: https://control.tierhive.com/support
- **Pre-sales**: https://kernelkeepers.com
- **Refund Policy**: https://tierhive.com/refund.php
- **Community**: Active on LowEndTalk and LowEndSpirit forums

## Company Information
- **Legal Name**: Kernel Keepers LTD
- **Registration**: England & Wales, Company #16211338
- **Address**: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom
- **Email**: support@tierhive.com
- **Social**: LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Facebook

## Technical Specifications
- **Minimum Resources**: 1 vCPU, 128MB RAM, 1GB NVMe storage (some operating systems need more)
- **Maximum Resources**: 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM (not all locations support 8GB), up to 4000GB HDD storage in selected locations
- **Network**: 5 Mbps to 225 Mbps sustained, burst up to 450 Mbps, depending on tier and location
- **Operating Systems**: Ubuntu 26.04/24.04/22.04, Debian 13/12, AlmaLinux 10/9/8 (plus AlmaLinux 10 minimal), Rocky Linux 10/9/8, CentOS Stream 10/9, Fedora Server 43, Fedora Cloud 44, Alpine Linux 3.24.1/3.23.4, Arch Linux (rolling), openSUSE 16/15.6, **FreeBSD 15.0 (UFS/ZFS)**, **FreeBSD 14.2 unofficial (UFS/ZFS)**, **OpenBSD 7.9/7.8**, or manual install from your own ISO
- **BSD Support**: One of the few VPS providers offering native FreeBSD and OpenBSD support - perfect for security-focused deployments and BSD enthusiasts
- **Control Panel Access**: HTTPS with optional 2FA

## Billing & Payments
- **Currency**: USD (1 token = 1 USD)
- **Billing Cycle**: Hourly, charged to your account balance. The first hour is charged when a VPS is deployed (1 hour minimum).
- **Stopped servers**: Only storage is billed while a VPS is stopped
- **Payment Methods**: FastSpring, accepting hundreds of payment methods worldwide
- **Minimum Top-up**: $3.00
- **Refund Policy**: https://tierhive.com/refund.php

## Target Audience
- Individual developers and hobbyists
- Startups and small businesses
- Students and educators
- DevOps teams needing flexible environments
- Anyone wanting affordable, flexible cloud hosting without long-term commitments

---
Last Updated: 2026-09-25