#1
G2 standing
Ranked ahead of AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
Report
Should I Use Linode?
Depends
DependsBuy if you're a developer or small team happy to run your own servers on simple, cheap VMs.
Solid cheap dev cloud, now Akamai-owned: great for hands-on developers, risky if you hate price hikes or want managed hosting.
Confidence: Medium
$5/mo
Starting price
Base VM, example setups add ~20GB block storage
2003
Founded
Independent until Akamai acquisition
$900M
Acquisition
Bought by Akamai in 2022
Value for money
3
Cheap base, but 20% hikes sting
Ease of use
4
Simplicity a recurring draw for users
Feature depth
4
Managed Kubernetes, object storage, compute breadth
Support quality
4
Users call support best-in-class
Security posture
3
Past breaches; shared-responsibility model
Pros
Cons
Gotchas
- high20% price increases hit existing customers; bandwidth and block storage inflate the bill fast.⁵
- mediumSmall production setups cost far more than $5 once egress, backups, and add-ons land.
- mediumManaged service runs $100/month; no published support response-time SLA.11
- lowAkamai rebrand left longtime users nervous about roadmap and continuity.
Best for
- Hands-on developers needing VPS
- Cost-sensitive small teams
- Kubernetes on a budget
- Side projects and staging
Not for
- Enterprises needing AWS-scale service breadth
- Non-technical teams wanting fully managed hosting
- Teams with strict vendor-risk policies (breach history)
- Anyone allergic to post-acquisition price hikes
Pricing
Base Nanode (shared CPU)
$5/mo
- Cheapest VM entry point
- Example setups add ~20GB block storage
Shared CPU 4 GB
Listed on Akamai pricing page (from ~$2X/mo)
- Mid-tier shared compute
- Full list on Akamai site
Linode Managed
$100/mo
- Managed ops service on top of compute
Security
No active Linode-platform CVEs found; historical breach record and a Terraform provider info-disclosure CVE on file.
- CVE-2026-27900 — Terraform provider info disclosureInformation disclosure flaw in the Terraform Provider for Linode; affects IaC tooling, not the core platform.⁹
- Historical breachesLinode reset passwords after a suspected breach; earlier hacker claims of stolen logins circulated on r/sysadmin.10
- Kernel privilege escalation discussionLinux kernel local privilege escalation (copy-fail) discussed in Linode context; applies to unpatched Linux hosts generally.
What users say
Long-timers praise support and value, while recent price hikes and the Akamai transition drew sharp criticism.
“I think Linode has the best suppor...”
“I've had Linode since 2010.”
“In my opinion, Linode is one of the v...”
Alternatives
Compare Linode with each alternative.
DigitalOcean
Developer-friendly VPS, the most-cited Linode alternative.
Hetzner
Cheaper VPS, recommended after Linode's price hikes.
UpCloud
Performance-focused rival with a direct comparison page.
Linode vs UpCloudVultr
Broad global VPS fleet, similar developer focus.
Full analysis
Based on 20+ public sources: Reddit threads, Trustpilot, Akamai official docs, news, and CVE databases.
Sources
news
- Trustpilot — Linode customer service reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- Reddit r/VPS — DO NOT USE LINODEreddit.comreview
- Reddit r/linode — Cost threadreddit.comreview
review
- Akamai to acquire Linode for $900Mprnewswire.comnews
- Akamai Cloud pricing — North Americaakamai.comofficial
- Hivelocity — Linode Price Increase & Customer Exodushivelocity.netnews
security
- DataCenterDynamics — Linode resets passwords after suspected breachdatacenterdynamics.comsecurity
- Linode (Akamai Cloud) VPS Review 2026learnwithhasan.comreview
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