Tool
Rent vs self-host game server calculator
Enter what a rented server, a VPS and a home PC would cost you, and this calculator shows each option's total over 12 and 36 months and the month home hosting becomes cheaper, if it ever does. Home hosting usually wins on cash only when you already own the PC and don't count your own time. Put a price on your time and the answer often flips.
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What you enter
| Input | Applies to | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price in the first period, and how many months it lasts | Rent, VPS | Promo price. Leave the months at 0 if there is no promo |
| Renewal price per month | Rent, VPS | The price after the promo. This is the number most lists leave out |
| Tax or VAT, percent | Rent, VPS | If the listed price excludes it |
| Add-ons per month | Rent, VPS | Backups, dedicated IP, extra storage |
| Average power draw, watts | Home | Measure it at the wall if you can. Idle and busy draw differ |
| Hours on per month | Home | 730 for always on |
| Electricity price per kWh | Home | Use your bill |
| Hardware bought for this server, and months to spread it over | Home, optional | Enter 0 if you already own the PC. With no spread entered, the full cost counts from month one, and the tool says so |
| Extra connection cost per month | Home, optional | A static IP or a faster upload tier |
| Admin hours per month, by option | All | Time spent on updates, restarts and fixing things |
| Value of your time per hour | All | Enter 0 to compare cash only |
An option calculates once it has its required inputs: a renewal price for rented and VPS, and watts, hours and electricity price for home. Any other field left blank counts as zero. You only need to fill in the options you are comparing.
How it calculates
For rent and VPS, over N months with P promo months:
cash = (promo_price × min(P, N)) + (renewal_price × max(N − P, 0)) + (addons × N), then cash × (1 + tax ÷ 100)
For home, over N months:
power_per_month = watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price_per_kWh
cash = (power_per_month + connection) × N + hardware × min(N, spread) ÷ spread
For every option, total = cash + (admin_hours × hourly_value × N).
The tool reports the total at 12 and 36 months for each option you fill in. It also reports two break-even months, home against rented and home against VPS. Each is the first N at which home's cumulative total is below that option's total, or "Not within 60 months". It runs in your browser, and your numbers are not sent anywhere.
A worked example
These inputs come from the Palworld rent vs self-host guide. The power draw, hardware price and time value are example assumptions to replace with your own.
- Rented: Indifferent Broccoli's 8-player Palworld plan, $15.99 per month as listed on 8 November 2026, no promo.
- Home: a PC averaging 60 W, always on, at $0.1816 per kWh, the US average residential price for August 2026 (preliminary). That is about $7.95 a month.
| Scenario | Rented, 12 months | Home, 12 months | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|
| You already own the PC, time not counted | $191.88 | About $95 | Month 1 |
| You buy a $400 PC, spread over 36 months, time not counted | $191.88 | About $229 | Month 50 |
| You own the PC, one admin hour a month at $20, rented admin entered as 0 | $191.88 | About $335 | Not within 60 months |
In the second row, home costs about $19.06 a month for the first 36 months and $7.95 afterwards, so its running total passes below the rented total in month 50, at about $798 against about $800. The third row is the one people skip: at one hour a month, your time costs more than the server does. Rented servers need some admin too, so enter a realistic number for each option.
What this calculator can't tell you
It says nothing about how well a game runs on any of these. Whether a plan meets a game's needs is covered by the RAM calculator and each game's guide, such as Valheim's costs worked through.
It also leaves out the costs that aren't money. A home server is up only while your PC and connection are, port forwarding fails behind carrier-grade NAT, and hosting at home exposes your home IP address to the players who join.