Moving Off Linode?
Linode Alternative: Fully Managed U.S. VPS Hosting With cPanel Included
Linode is now Akamai Cloud — linode.com redirects to akamai.com and the plans are priced per region. What has not changed is what you get: an unmanaged instance with root access. A Linode 16 GB lists at $96 a month in North America, but it arrives with no control panel, no one administering it, and backups billed separately. Akamai sells server management as a Managed Service at $100 per compute instance per month, and a cPanel/WHM license is another $53.99 from cPanel.
That is $269.99 a month for a managed 16 GB cPanel server. LiberationTek’s Growth VPS — 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 350 GB NVMe, 10 TB bandwidth — is $99 a month on an annual term, fully managed, cPanel included, on hardware we own in the United States. Prices checked September 11, 2026.
What a good Linode alternative must include
Linode now runs as Akamai Cloud, and its instances are unmanaged. If you want a Linode alternative, begin by listing the work that a managed server does for you.
Patching, monitoring, backups, a control panel and a person to call all have a price. A fair Linode alternative puts them in one plan.
Checklist for choosing a Linode alternative
These questions work for any Linode alternative, ours included.
- Who administers the server day to day?
- Is a cPanel/WHM license part of the plan?
- Are backups daily and included?
- Is there a money-back guarantee?
- Is transfer overage billed, and at what rate?
A useful Linode alternative gives clear answers to all five. Linode bills $0.005 per GB above the plan allowance, while we do not bill egress or overage at all.
Where the cost of a Linode adds up
A Linode 16 GB lists at $96 a month. The chart breaks down what a managed cPanel setup on the Linode side adds to it.
Together that is $269.99 a month. The LiberationTek Growth VPS is $99 a month on an annual term, or $129 month to month. Prices checked September 2026.
Who should look at this Linode alternative
- Agencies that host client sites and want cPanel included
- Small businesses without a system administrator
- Teams that want ticket, chat and phone support under one roof
- Owners who want hardware in the United States
If you have engineers who want hourly billing and raw access to many regions, Linode may suit you. We suggest a Linode alternative when you want the server managed for you.
Moving to a Linode alternative
Migration is free with LiberationTek, for 1 to 30 sites depending on the plan. Your Linode instance keeps running while we copy your sites, so you can test first. Every VPS plan carries a 30 day money-back guarantee.
For general guidance on protecting a small business server, see the NIST small business cybersecurity resources.
You can also read our backup and disaster recovery page or browse the compare hub.
The best Linode alternative is the one you do not have to babysit. Choose a Linode alternative that is managed from day one.
How the move from Linode works
We handle each step so you can keep working.
“Liberation is a small, agile tech services company that has really helped me get going with enterprise level solutions at startup friendly rates. I have had a great time working with the team at Liberation getting set up to migrate my servers over.”
Kevin Gilleard · Google review
Manage your cloud server in one panel
See resources and usage at a glance, then reboot, open a console or take a snapshot with one click.
LiberationTek VPS vs. Linode
A managed VPS next to an unmanaged Akamai Cloud instance. Linode figures come from Akamai’s published North America price list, checked September 2026.
Feature | LiberationTek VPS | Linode (Akamai Cloud) |
|---|---|---|
Who administers the server | LiberationTek — fully managed on every plan | You, unless you add Akamai’s Managed Service |
Server management add-on | Not needed, it is the plan | $100 per compute instance per month |
Control panel | cPanel/WHM license included | Not included — $53.99/mo from cPanel for 30 accounts |
Automated backups | Daily, included, 7 to 30 day retention | $20.00/mo for a Linode 16 GB, scaling with plan size |
Backup storage included | 50 GB to 500 GB depending on plan | Billed with the backup service |
16 GB plan specs | Growth — 8 vCPU, 350 GB NVMe, 10 TB bandwidth | Linode 16 GB — 6 CPU, 320 GB SSD, 8 TB transfer |
16 GB plan price | $99/mo on an annual term, $129 month to month | $96.00/mo before panel, backups or management |
Transfer overage | None — we do not bill egress or overage | $0.005 per GB above the plan allowance |
Support channels | Ticket and chat on every plan, phone from Growth up | Standard support through the Akamai portal |
Response target | 8 hours on Foundation down to 2 hours on Scale | Depends on the support agreement |
Website migration | Free — 1 to 30 sites depending on plan | Self-service |
Business mailboxes | 5 to 50 included depending on plan | Not offered |
Free domain | One free domain with an annual plan | Not offered |
Where the hardware lives | Servers LiberationTek owns in the United States | Akamai data centers worldwide |
Money-back guarantee | 30 days on every VPS plan | Hourly billing, no guarantee published |
Why Businesses Leave Linode For Liberation
Management Is A $100 Add-On
An Akamai Cloud instance is yours to administer. Akamai publishes a Managed Service at $100 per compute instance per month if you want that handed off — on top of the instance price. Every LiberationTek VPS plan is fully managed at no extra charge: OS patching, cPanel maintenance and 24/7 hardware and uptime monitoring.
No Control Panel In The Box
A Linode ships as a bare operating system. A cPanel/WHM license for up to 30 accounts is $53.99 a month direct from cPanel, and updating it is your job. Liberation bundles the full cPanel/WHM license into every plan and keeps it at a stable version.
Backups Are A Separate Line
Akamai lists $20 a month to back up a Linode 16 GB, scaling with instance size. Liberation includes daily automated backups on every plan with 7 to 30 day retention and 50 GB to 500 GB of backup storage.
Transfer Above Your Allowance Is Billed
Akamai bills network transfer over your plan allowance at $0.005 per GB. Liberation VPS plans include 6 TB to 32 TB of bandwidth and we do not charge egress or overage fees at all — a traffic spike never turns into an invoice.
A Small Team, Not A Global Queue
Akamai is a global content delivery network with Linode folded into it. Liberation is a small U.S. company where the same people who answer the ticket know your server. Ticket and chat support is on every plan, phone from Growth up, with a 2 to 8 hour response target depending on plan.
Hardware We Own, In The U.S.
Your sites run on servers LiberationTek owns and operates in the United States — never leased, never outsourced, never subject to foreign data-sharing laws. We do not track, sell or share your data or your activity.
What A Managed Linode Really Costs
A 16 GB server running cPanel, backed up nightly, with someone responsible for it. cPanel pricing is the published Cloud/VPS rate for up to 30 accounts.
Monthly line item | LiberationTek Growth VPS | Linode 16 GB |
|---|---|---|
The server | $99.00 on an annual term | $96.00 |
Someone managing it | Included | $100.00 — Akamai Managed Service |
cPanel/WHM, up to 30 accounts | Included | $53.99 |
Daily automated backups | Included | $20.00 |
Website migration | Included, up to 5 sites | Do it yourself |
Transfer overage | None | $0.005 per GB above 8 TB |
Monthly total | $99.00 | $269.99 |
First year | $1,188 | $3,239.88 |
What you keep | $2,051.88 in year one | — |
What Customers Say After Switching
Real customer reviews. LiberationTek is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Google and 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot (September 2026).
Leave Linode In 4 Steps
1. Send Us Your Instance Details
Tell us your Linode plan, the sites and databases on it, and anything unusual in the stack. We match it to a Liberation VPS plan or size a custom one for you.
2. We Move Everything
Give us root access or a snapshot and we copy sites, databases, users, cron jobs, SSL certificates and mail across. Free on every plan — one site on Foundation, up to thirty on Scale.
3. Check It Before Anyone Else Does
Your sites run on the new server at a temporary address while the Linode keeps serving live traffic. You sign off before a single visitor is affected.
4. Switch DNS, Delete The Linode
We update DNS, reissue SSL through AutoSSL and monitor the first 48 hours. Once everything is settled, delete the Linode and stop the hourly meter.
Your Liberation VPS Plan, Fully Managed
Plan | What you get | Price | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
Foundation | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 200 GB NVMe · 6 TB | $59/mo annual · $79 monthly | Business sites, client sites, line-of-business apps |
Growth | 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 350 GB NVMe · 10 TB | $99/mo annual · $129 monthly | The like-for-like replacement for a Linode 16 GB |
Commerce | 12 vCPU · 24 GB RAM · 500 GB NVMe · 15 TB | $159/mo annual · $199 monthly | Ecommerce, high-traffic WordPress, CRM and ERP |
Scale | 16 vCPU · 32 GB RAM · 750 GB NVMe · 32 TB | $239/mo annual · $289 monthly | Multi-tenant, heavy ecommerce, custom applications |
Get Started
By Transferring Your Website
Liberation can transfer your website content from most site builder platforms.
Linode Alternative FAQs
Both names refer to the same service. Akamai acquired Linode and now sells its cloud products as Akamai Cloud; linode.com redirects to akamai.com and pricing is published per region. Plan names carried over, so a “Linode 16 GB” is still a 16 GB shared-CPU instance — $96 a month on Akamai’s North America price list as of September 2026.
Not by default. An instance gives you root access and you administer it: operating system updates, firewall, web server, PHP versions, mail and recovery. Akamai publishes a Managed Service at $100 per compute instance per month if you want that handed off. LiberationTek VPS plans are fully managed at no extra charge — we patch the OS, keep cPanel at a stable version, monitor hardware and uptime 24/7 and answer the phone.
Add it up: $96 for a Linode 16 GB, $100 for Akamai’s Managed Service, $53.99 for a cPanel/WHM license covering up to 30 accounts and $20 for backups. That is $269.99 a month, or $3,239.88 a year, before any transfer overage. LiberationTek’s Growth VPS is $99 a month on an annual term — $1,188 a year — with management, cPanel, daily backups and migration included. Prices checked September 11, 2026.
No. Instances ship with a bare operating system. Akamai’s own deployment guide is explicit that cPanel licenses “are not available directly through Linode” — you install the one-click image, get a 15-day trial, and then buy your own license from cPanel at $53.99 a month for up to 30 accounts. Keeping it patched is also your responsibility. Every LiberationTek VPS plan includes a cPanel/WHM license that we maintain for you.
Yes, and it is free on every plan. Give us root access or a snapshot and we move sites, databases, users, cron jobs, SSL certificates and mail. Foundation covers one site, Growth five, Commerce fifteen and Scale thirty. We stage everything at a temporary address so your Linode keeps serving live traffic until you approve the cutover.
Not with us. LiberationTek VPS plans include 6 TB to 32 TB of bandwidth depending on plan and we do not bill egress or overage fees. Akamai bills network transfer above your plan allowance at $0.005 per GB, so a busy month or a large download shows up on the invoice.
Yes. Root and SSH access are included on every LiberationTek VPS plan, so you can install and configure whatever your applications need. The difference from an unmanaged Linode is that you are not alone with it — if something breaks at 3 a.m., we are the ones fixing it, and that is already in the price.
Keep Reading
More comparisons: Liquid Web alternative · DigitalOcean alternative · DigitalOcean vs. Linode vs.
Vultr · GoDaddy alternative · Google Workspace alternative · Microsoft 365 alternative · Gmail alternative · Slack alternative · Zoom alternative · Proton Mail alternative · Private email providers · Vultr alternative · Mailchimp alternative · AWS alternative · HostGator reseller alternative · Wix & Squarespace alternative · Constant Contact alternative · InMotion reseller alternative · Hostinger alternative · Outlook alternative · Bluehost alternative · WP Engine alternative · Zoho Workplace alternative · All comparisons
Fully managed VPS plans · Dedicated hosting · Shared hosting · Transfer your website
Sources: Akamai Cloud (Linode) North America pricing and cPanel pricing, plus Akamai’s cPanel deployment guide, checked September 11, 2026. LiberationTek prices are list prices on this site.
Unmanaged is a price, not a product
Comparing Linode with other cloud providers mostly compares prices for the same thing: a virtual server, running, with the hardware kept alive underneath it. Specifications and hourly rates are broadly similar across the whole category, which means price is not the interesting variable. The interesting variable is who is responsible for the operating system.
On any unmanaged provider, that is you. Distribution updates, PHP and database versions, the web server configuration, firewall rules, certificate renewal, and backups you have actually tested restoring are all yours. That is a real saving if you or somebody on your team does the work and keeps doing it. It is a false saving if the server was configured once by a contractor who has since moved on, which describes an uncomfortable number of running servers.
Since the Akamai acquisition, a good number of Linode customers have been shopping for a different relationship rather than different hardware — changes to the console, the billing and the support experience rather than to the machines. If that is you, be clear about it, because it means the answer is not another unmanaged provider at a similar price. It means deciding what level of management you actually want to buy.
Check what is attached to the account as well as what is on the instance. Block storage volumes, load balancers, a managed database and DNS zones hosted in the provider’s console are all separate resources that do not travel with a disk image, and they are exactly what quietly stops working after a move.
Where we fit: managed WordPress where you want nobody on your team thinking about servers, or a managed VPS where you want control with patching and backups included. Support is based in the United States and you can call it. Website Migration is included with hosting, email and Hub plans. If you are not on a plan, or you want a one-off move, it is $250. Book a call and tell us honestly who has been patching the current server — that answer decides what you should buy.