Skiff 1
$ 4 /month
- vCPU
- 1 × shared
- RAM
- 1 GB
- Storage
- 20 GB NVMe SSD
- Transfer
- 2 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
Operating system
OpenBSD VPS hosting with true KVM support
7.8 · 7.7Min 256 MBRecommended 1 GBOpenBSD Project
Short answer
OpenBSD is built around correctness and secure defaults: two remote holes in the default install in a quarter of a century, W^X enforced, pledge and unveil sandboxing throughout the base system. It is the natural choice for a firewall, a jump host, or anything on the edge of your network.
Strengths
- Secure by default
- pledge and unveil sandboxing
- Exceptional documentation
- Tiny footprint
Trade-offs
- Lower raw performance
- Six-month release cadence
- Small package ecosystem
Best suited to
FirewallsBastion and jump hostsMail relaysDNS servers
OpenBSD on a KVM virtual server
KVM gives you a real machine: your own kernel, your own /proc, nothing shared. That is exactly what OpenBSD needs, and what OpenVZ or LXC cannot offer—they pin you to the host kernel. Before you choose it, know that OpenBSD here is not about speed. You are trading raw throughput for security and correctness. If you expect a performance race, this is the wrong system.
Customers run firewalls, bastion and jump hosts, mail relays, and DNS servers. These are edge roles where OpenBSD's secure defaults and tiny footprint beat raw performance. The small package ecosystem rarely matters—these jobs need little beyond base. Accept the six-month release cadence and you get a system that is boring in the best way.
How much machine OpenBSD actually needs
The OS itself boots in 256 MB, but that leaves nothing for your application. Plan on 1 GB as the comfortable floor—enough for sshd, a mail relay, or a DNS resolver with headroom. Disk is cheap; start at the base plan and grow. OpenBSD's footprint means you are not paying for idle kernel memory.
Plans that suit OpenBSD
Skiff 2
$ 7 /month
- vCPU
- 1 × shared
- RAM
- 2 GB
- Storage
- 40 GB NVMe SSD
- Transfer
- 3 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
Skiff 4
$ 12 /month
- vCPU
- 2 × shared
- RAM
- 4 GB
- Storage
- 60 GB NVMe SSD
- Transfer
- 4 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
Frequently asked questions
How much RAM does OpenBSD need?
OpenBSD boots in 256 MB and is comfortable with 1 GB. Add whatever your application needs on top of that — the operating system baseline is a floor, not a budget.
Can I run OpenBSD on a VPS?
Yes, on true KVM virtualisation, which is what every OnionVPS instance runs. This would not be possible on OpenVZ or LXC-based virtual servers, which share the host kernel and can only run Linux.
How long is OpenBSD supported?
2 releases (~1 year)
Can I upload my own OpenBSD ISO?
Yes. Every OnionVPS plan includes custom ISO upload, so you can boot the exact OpenBSD version you want—7.8 or 7.7—rather than a provider image. True KVM means the installer sees real hardware, and you keep full control of partitioning and flags.
Will the out-of-band console help with pf mistakes?
Absolutely. A wrong pf rule can lock you out of SSH, but the VNC console is always available, independent of the guest network. You can recover without opening a ticket—just boot to single-user or edit the config from the console.