Key Takeaways
- OVHcloud is raising prices on select dedicated servers by up to 87%, with its 2026-generation Game servers taking the biggest hit.
- AI is driving up server costs, leaving hosts to decide whether to pay more for new hardware, change their configurations, or squeeze a few more years out of what they already have.
OVHcloud recently announced that it’s raising prices on some of its servers, with certain hardware generations jumping by as much as 87%.
It’s another casualty in the RAMpocalypse. Octave Klaba, OVHcloud’s founder, said that the company is paying 6x more for RAM than it was a year ago, with prices expected to climb 9x in September and possibly 12x in 2027.
Thankfully, OVHcloud isn’t just slapping new price tags across its product line. Klaba said the company carefully chose which servers would see increases and how much based on the hardware costs behind them.
“Our teams reviewed every range, model by model, to adjust only what is genuinely affected, in line with the actual cost impact,” Klaba explained in an official blog post.
OVHcloud Raises Dedicated Server Prices by Up to 87%
OVHcloud’s Gen 2024 servers will increase by 26% to 37%, while Gen 2026 hardware will rise by 40% to 59%. The biggest increase hits the newest Gen 2026 Game servers, which will jump by 87%, while Gen 2024 Game servers remain unchanged.
As mentioned, not every customer will see the increase immediately. It’ll roll out in stages, and the timing depends on whether you’re buying a new server or renewing an existing one.
OVHcloud Dedicated Server Price Increases by Range
| Server Range | Gen 2024 Price Increase (%) | Gen 2026 Price Increase (%) | Existing Installed RAM Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance | 26 | 49 | 20% / 40% |
| Game | 0 | 87 | — |
| High Grade | 26 | 59 | 20% / 40% |
| Kimsufi | 0 | 0 | No change |
| Overall Average | 28 | 51 | — |
| Rise | 0 | 0 | No change |
| Scale | 37 | 40 | 20% / 40% |
| So You Start | 0 | 0 | No change |
Existing customers aren’t necessarily shielded, either. OVHcloud said the increase will affect recent Gen 2024 and Gen 2026 equipment at renewal beginning October 1, although the increases for already-installed RAM will be “more measured” than the price hikes for new equipment.
Existing installed RAM also gets a 20% increase on Gen 2024 and 40% on Gen 2026, compared with a 127% increase for new RAM. Storage gets +10%/+15% for existing equipment versus +89% for new.
Rising Memory Costs Are Hitting Web Hosting Providers
OVHcloud is far from the first provider to feel the squeeze of rising memory prices. Other hosting companies are already changing how they do hardware purchases.
Hostinger recently reported that server costs have risen 5-6x over the past year, with some components 6-8x more expensive than they were in early 2025. The company recently purchased more than 3,000 servers in Germany, France, and North Carolina.
Others are responding differently. StorMagic has opted to extend the lifespan of its existing infrastructure rather than follow the traditional “replace your hardware on a three-to-five year refresh cycle” rule of thumb.
Memory is, of course, at the heart of the problem. AI infrastructure needs huge amounts of HBM and server DRAM, so chipmakers are prioritizing production for those higher-value products. It also leaves less capacity for traditional DRAM, which is what causes many infrastructure providers to pay more for the memory they need.
The Memory Crunch Is Starting to Hit Cloud Prices
So, does all of this mean memory prices will stay rising? That depends on your perspective. The good news: There’s no true consensus. The bad news: It could continue for years to come.
- JP Morgan expects DRAM prices to rise more than 400% from the beginning of 2024 through the end of 2026
- TrendForce expects DRAM supply to remain constrained through 2027, as HBM production continues consuming capacity that could otherwise serve conventional DRAM
- Deloitte says the prices may not ease for years, noting that new manufacturing capacity being funded now will take years to come online
Whichever way you slice it, it’s a long time to keep operating on rising hardware costs.
RAMpocalypse Isn’t Ending Soon
OVHcloud’s price increase doesn’t necessarily mean every hosting provider is about to raise prices. Providers have different inventories and agreements and, well, profit margins.
The hyperscalers aren’t immune, either: AWS has already raised prices for EC2 Capacity Blocks for ML twice this year, including a ~20% increase in July. Even so, AWS has said it has worked closely with strategic suppliers and secured enough supply ahead of the crunch.
But eventually, providers have to decide who takes on the difference. They can absorb higher hardware costs and make less profit, raise prices for customers, buy less expensive configurations, or keep existing servers in service longer. StorMagic has already taken the last approach. OVHcloud is now passing at least some of the cost to customers.
The question for hosting providers is how much of the AI hardware boom they can afford to take on before their customers begin to feel it.
