Update (2026): This review dates from 2013. DigitalOcean's pricing, data-center regions, available distributions and payment options have changed a lot since then; check digitalocean.com for current details. The link below is the author's referral link.

This is by far the best cloud VPS service I've ever used.

Website: digitalocean.com

Registration is free, and afterwards you can look around the control panel right away. Here are some highlights.

• Distributions: the most popular ones are available: Arch, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora (x86 and x64).
• Locations: three data centers, in New York, San Francisco and Amsterdam.

• Backups: back up whenever you want; automatic daily backups are also available, with no hidden fee.
• Speed and billing: it takes about half a minute to initialize a VPS. Create as many servers as you want (the default limit is five, which you can raise for free). You are charged only for what you use, and when you destroy a VPS the unused money stays in your account.

• Payment: credit card or PayPal, fast and secure.

There is much more to find out on the DigitalOcean website.