Add the single numbers
Memory adds up. Eight stacks measured alone summed to 1,113 MiB; together they rose by 1,101 MiB. Caddy for HTTPS adds about 6 MiB.
Flare
Know what fits
before you deploy.
2 GB VPS hosting · Flare
Flare is our 2 GB plan: 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD, unmetered transfer. We ran real stacks on it and measured idle memory, so you can budget before you buy.
Flare from $5.99/month · USD · availability varies by region
Dedicated IPv4DDoS protectionDaily backupsFull root access
PlanFlare
$5.99/ month
vCPU1
Memory2 GB
SSD storage25 GB
Filled = this plan. Outline = our largest plan.
Overview
What a 2 GB VPS actually runs.
One Flare server, Docker, and the stacks from our own guides: each alone, then together, then with a swap file. Every figure is idle. Treat it as a floor, not a promise.
Eight stacks fit
Uptime Kuma, Vaultwarden, Navidrome, Audiobookshelf, Forgejo, Jellyfin, Home Assistant and n8n ran together at idle. They added about 1.1 GB and left about 425 MB free, with no swap.
Two things do not
Immich alone took available memory down to 38 MB in about 35 seconds. Plausible only fit once we added a 2 GB swap file. Swap is a safety net, not more RAM.
Disk fills too
Nine sets of images take 12.7 GiB of the 25 GB disk, and Ubuntu with Docker holds 2.3 GiB. That leaves about 8.5 GiB for data, backups and logs.
Workflow
Budget it, then test it.
Add up what you plan to run, then check it on the server.
Leave room for real use
Idle is a floor. Logins, imported data, libraries and traffic cost more. Keep headroom and watch free -m.
Move up when it tells you
If available memory stays low or the swap file is busy, pick a bigger plan instead of leaning harder on swap.
Measurement notes
The measurement figures on this page come from our published post. It has the full tables and the method.
Method
One Flare VPS with Docker. Each stack started clean three times. Idle RAM is the rise in used memory after two minutes. A control container showed the method resolves roughly plus or minus 40 MiB.
What we left out
Caddy and HTTPS (they need a real domain), accounts, logins, imported data and load tests. The Jellyfin, Navidrome and Audiobookshelf libraries were empty.
Swap
A 2 GB swap file at the default swappiness of 60. Running swapoff with all nine stacks up made the kernel end the swapoff process. Stop stacks before removing swap.
Pricing
Where Flare sits in the range.
Monthly pricing in USD. Unmetered transfer, subject to the acceptable use policy.
This plan
Flare
Small projects & personal apps
$5.99/ month
Billed monthly. No setup fee.
Deploy Flare- CPU
- 1 vCPU
- Memory
- 2 GB
- SSD storage
- 25 GB
- Unmetered traffic
- Daily backups & dedicated IPv4
Orbit
Websites & lightweight services
$7.99/ month
Billed monthly. No setup fee.
Deploy Orbit- CPU
- 2 vCPU
- Memory
- 4 GB
- SSD storage
- 50 GB
- Unmetered traffic
- Daily backups & dedicated IPv4
Comet
Growing applications
$15.99/ month
Billed monthly. No setup fee.
Deploy Comet- CPU
- 4 vCPU
- Memory
- 8 GB
- SSD storage
- 100 GB
- Unmetered traffic
- Daily backups & dedicated IPv4
Pulsar
More demanding workloads
$27.99/ month
Billed monthly. No setup fee.
Deploy Pulsar- CPU
- 6 vCPU
- Memory
- 16 GB
- SSD storage
- 200 GB
- Unmetered traffic
- Daily backups & dedicated IPv4
Quasar
Heavy, memory-hungry workloads
$49.99/ month
Billed monthly. No setup fee.
Deploy Quasar- CPU
- 8 vCPU
- Memory
- 32 GB
- SSD storage
- 400 GB
- Unmetered traffic
- Daily backups & dedicated IPv4
Nebula
Our largest plan
$89.99/ month
Billed monthly. No setup fee.
Deploy Nebula- CPU
- 12 vCPU
- Memory
- 64 GB
- SSD storage
- 800 GB
- Unmetered traffic
- Daily backups & dedicated IPv4
Six plans. Check your selected region and current stock in checkout.
Included
DDoS protectionDaily backupsDedicated IPv4Root & console
All included features
DDoS protection
Always on. No scrubbing fee, no attack-time surcharge.
Daily backups
Automated, seven-day retention, restore them yourself.
Snapshots
Save a point to return to. Up to 7, free.
Dedicated IPv4
One public IPv4 of your own.
Browser VNC console
Console access from your browser, even without SSH.
Unmetered traffic
No per-GB charge, subject to the Acceptable Use Policy.
SSH key at deploy
Your public key is on the machine at first boot. No password sent by email.
Crypto payments
Pay in crypto at checkout, not only by card.
Telegram control
Servers, balance, invoices and tickets from your phone.
Answers
A few things to know.
Can a 2 GB VPS run Docker?+
Yes. The measurements ran on Docker. With Docker installed and nothing running, the host showed about 441 MiB used.
Will Immich run on 2 GB?+
No. On its own, without swap, it took available memory down to 38 MB and we stopped it first. Our Immich guide recommends the 8 GB Comet plan.
What should I not run on 2 GB?+
Immich, or anything with a machine-learning container. Plausible beside other apps. More than two of Home Assistant, n8n and Plausible, and only with swap. Transcoding and compiling were not measured.
Is 2 GB enough for a bot, a VPN or a vault?+
Our guides call Flare the fit for Vaultwarden, Forgejo, WireGuard with Pi-hole or AdGuard Home, Headscale, SearXNG and Discord or Telegram bots. They also say Flare cannot hold a Valheim server, and that 2 GB is fine for Minecraft only with two or three players on a small map.
Does unmetered mean unlimited?+
Unmetered means no per-GB transfer charge. It does not mean unlimited throughput, and the acceptable use policy applies.
Start with Flare.
Check your region and current stock in checkout, then measure your own workload.
Deploy Flare