Switching guide, 2026
Looking for a Linode alternative? Sign up with an email, not a card.
Linode is now Akamai Cloud. Here’s what it takes to get and keep an account, what a month really costs, and how to move this afternoon.
Linode, a 2 GB server and the sign-up
- Linode 2 GB1 vCPU, 50 GB, 2 TB$12
- To sign upCard or PayPal, and a phoneRequired
- VerificationCard photos, photo IDMay be asked
From Akamai's own pricing and help pages, 3 November 2026.
LiteKeep Lite 2
$4
- 2 vCPU
- 2 GB
- 40 GB NVMe
- No card
- No ID
- Crypto
An email address and a password. Billed by the hour, in 15 countries.
The short answer
LiteKeep is the Linode alternative you can open with an email address and a password. No card, no phone number, no photos of your ID. You pay in Bitcoin, USDT, USDC or five other coins, billed by the hour like Linode.
At Akamai’s listed prices, a 2 GB Linode is $12 a month and an 8 GB one is $48. A Lite 2 is $4 and a Lite 8 is $12, with more vCPUs and NVMe at each size. The calculator below prices a full month on both.
Linode was bought by Akamai, and its plans are now sold as Akamai Cloud. Most “Linode alternatives” lists are other clouds ranking themselves first, and none of them starts where many people get stuck: the sign-up.
Akamai asks for a card or PayPal and a phone number at sign-up, and its staff say an account may need verification before it’s activated: photos of the payment card and a government-issued photo ID.
LiteKeep asks for an email address and a password. This guide compares the rest, prices a full month, and walks you through the move.
In this guide you’ll learn
- Sign-up and the rules, side by side
- A cost calculator: a full month on both
- Matched plans from 2 GB to 32 GB
- What stays the same when you move
- How to move without downtime
Chapter 1
The short answer
From Akamai’s own pricing, help pages and acceptable use policy on 3 November 2026, and ours.
| Linode (Akamai Cloud) | LiteKeep | |
|---|---|---|
| To sign up | Card or PayPal, plus a phone number for a text code | Email and password |
| Verification | May ask for card photos and a government photo ID | None |
| Paying in crypto | Not among the listed payment methods | BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, SOL, BNB, XRP, XMR |
| Crypto mining | Only with prior written permission | Allowed |
| Sending mail | Ports 25, 465 and 587 restricted on some new accounts | Port 25 open, reverse DNS you set |
| DDoS protection | Protects Akamai’s infrastructure, not single servers | Always-on filtering for every server |
| 2 GB server | 1 vCPU, 50 GB, $12 a month | Lite 2: 2 vCPU, 40 GB NVMe, $4 |
| 8 GB server | 4 vCPU, 160 GB, $48 a month | Lite 8: 8 vCPU, 160 GB NVMe, $12 |
Chapter 2
Price a full month on both
Pick the RAM of your Linode and the traffic you send, and tick backups if you use them. Every charge is listed so you can check the sum.
A full month, side by side
Lite 8, $13.15 a month
Linode: its cheapest plan with that RAM and its own add-on prices, as published on 3 November 2026, in US dollars. Both bill by the hour with a monthly cap. See every Lite
Linode includes more transfer at each size, and its overage is $5 per TB; ours is $2. Push the traffic slider to see when that matters. Prices shown are Akamai’s listed shared CPU prices; Jakarta and São Paulo are priced differently.
Chapter 3
Why people look for a Linode alternative
Linode has a long track record. These are the reasons people still look elsewhere.
1. Getting an account
Akamai uses your card or PayPal to verify who you are, sends a code to your phone, and may hold an account until you send photos of the card and a matching government ID. If you’re signing up from far from your address, or through a VPN, expect questions.
On LiteKeep there’s nothing to verify. An email address and a password open the account, from wherever you are.
2. Paying in crypto
Akamai lists cards, PayPal and Google Pay, with checks or wires through support. Crypto isn’t on the list.
On LiteKeep, crypto is how you pay: Bitcoin, Ether, USDT, USDC, Solana, BNB, XRP or Monero. How paying for hosting with crypto works.
3. Mining and mail
Akamai’s acceptable use policy requires prior written permission for any cryptocurrency mining, and some new accounts can’t send mail on ports 25, 465 and 587 until support lifts the restriction.
On LiteKeep, mining and nodes are allowed, and outbound port 25 is open. See our acceptable use policy.
4. The bill
A 2 GB Linode is $12 a month with one vCPU, and 16 GB is $96. A Lite 2 is $4 with two vCPUs, and a Lite 16 is $20 with sixteen. Backups on Linode are priced per plan, $2.50 a month on the 2 GB plan; on a Lite they’re $0.0072 per GB of disk.
Chapter 4
What stays the same
Moving from Linode isn’t learning a new way of working.
- Hourly billing with a monthly cap. A Lite bills per started hour at 0.15% of its monthly price, never more than the monthly price.
- Powered-off servers still bill on both. Delete a server to stop paying.
- Traffic pooled across your servers on both.
- KVM, full root, Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux and Rocky, plus one-click apps such as Docker, Coolify, WordPress and n8n.
| Your Linode | Deploy on LiteKeep | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Nanode 1 GB or Linode 2 GB | Lite 2 | 2 vCPU, 2 GB, 40 GB NVMe |
| Linode 4 GB | Lite 6 | 6 vCPU, 6 GB, 100 GB NVMe |
| Linode 8 GB | Lite 8 | 8 vCPU, 8 GB, 160 GB NVMe |
| Linode 16 GB | Lite 16 | 16 vCPU, 16 GB, 320 GB NVMe |
| Linode 32 GB | Lite 32 | 16 vCPU, 32 GB, 640 GB NVMe |
Chapter 5
How to move from Linode without downtime
Both bill by the hour, so you only pay for the overlap.
- Lower your DNS TTL a day beforeHow to check: Set it to 300 seconds, so the switch spreads in minutes.
- Deploy your Lite and secure itHow to check: Same OS version if you can. Follow our VPS security guide first.
- Copy your filesHow to check: From the new server:
rsync -avz --progress root@old-linode:/var/www/ /var/www/. Run it again just before the switch; the second pass copies only changes. - Dump and restore databasesHow to check: For example
mysqldumporpg_dumpon the Linode, then import on the Lite. - Test, then switch DNSHow to check: Point your own PC at the new IP with your hosts file, click through, then change DNS.
- Delete the LinodeHow to check: Powering it off isn’t enough: Akamai bills services that are present on the account, even powered off.
Chapter 6
Quick answers
The questions people ask before they switch.
Do I need a card or a phone number? No. An email address and a password open the account.
Will you ask for ID later? No. There’s no verification step.
Can I pay with Bitcoin, USDT or Monero? Yes, and with ETH, USDC, SOL, BNB and XRP.
Is DDoS protection included? Yes, always-on filtering on our upstream network protects every server.
Can I mine or run a mail server? Yes. Mining and nodes are allowed, and outbound port 25 is open.
Can I run Windows? Yes: Windows Server on any Lite, for $4 a month extra.
Now it’s your move
If a card check, a phone code or an ID request is why you’re here, a Lite skips all three, for about a third of the price.
Deploy one next to your Linode, move a site over this afternoon, then delete the old one.