Skiff 2
$ 6.65 /month
$19.95 total · Save 5%
- vCPU
- 1 × shared
- RAM
- 2 GB
- Storage
- 40 GB NVMe SSD
- Transfer
- 3 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
🇿🇦 Africa
VPS hosting in Johannesburg
NAPAfrica Johannesburg is the largest exchange on the continent — the default for anything serving sub-Saharan Africa.
CoreNo Eyes allianceOutside GDPR territoryDMCA not applicable40 Gbit/s
Short answer
Yes, you can host a server in Johannesburg, South Africa, without KYC, as OnionVPS requires only an email address. South Africa is not a member of the Five, Nine, or Fourteen Eyes alliances, and the DMCA does not apply; local copyright law requires a court order for takedowns. Entry price is $4 per month.
- City
- Johannesburg
- Country
- 🇿🇦 South Africa (ZA)
- Region
- Africa
- Tier
- Core
- Intelligence alliance
- Not a member of the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes alliances
- GDPR applies
- No
- DMCA applies
- Not applicable — DMCA is US statute
- Online since
- 2021
- Uplink
- 40 Gbit/s
- Capabilities
- DDoS scrubbing · Native IPv6 /64 · NVMe storage · Custom ISO upload · Windows licensing
- Coordinates
- -26.20, 28.05
Why hosting in Johannesburg looks the way it does
Johannesburg sits on NAPAfrica, the largest exchange on the continent, making it the default for sub-Saharan Africa. OnionVPS has operated here since 2021, with a 40 Gbit/s uplink and estimated RTTs of 102 ms to São Paulo and 119 ms to Frankfurt or Singapore. The facility offers DDoS scrubbing, native IPv6 /64, NVMe storage, custom ISO upload, and Windows licensing.
Common deployments include content delivery for southern African audiences, financial services requiring low latency to Johannesburg's financial district, and pan-African SaaS backends. The location also suits data-local storage for organisations wanting to keep personal data within the region, since GDPR does not apply.
Plans available in Johannesburg
Cutter 8
$ 32.3 /month
$96.90 total · Save 5%
- vCPU
- 4 × dedicated
- RAM
- 8 GB
- Storage
- 160 GB NVMe SSD
- Transfer
- 10 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
Clipper 16
$ 87.4 /month
$262.20 total · Save 5%
- vCPU
- 8 × dedicated
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 400 GB NVMe Gen4 SSD
- Transfer
- 30 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
Hold 4
$ 20.9 /month
$62.70 total · Save 5%
- vCPU
- 2 × shared
- RAM
- 4 GB
- Storage
- 2 TB Enterprise HDD
- Transfer
- 20 TB
- IPv4 / IPv6
- 1 / /64 routed
The hardened Bastion line is restricted to offshore and privacy-tier jurisdictions and is not available here.
Compare all plansEstimated round-trip latency from Johannesburg
| Location | Country | Estimated RTT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇪 Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 89 ms |
| 🇧🇷 São Paulo | Brazil | 102 ms |
| 🇩🇪 Frankfurt | Germany | 119 ms |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | Singapore | 119 ms |
| 🇳🇱 Amsterdam | Netherlands | 124 ms |
| 🇬🇧 London | United Kingdom | 124 ms |
| 🇦🇺 Sydney | Australia | 151 ms |
| 🇺🇸 New York | United States | 175 ms |
| 🇺🇸 Miami | United States | 177 ms |
| 🇺🇸 Ashburn | United States | 179 ms |
| 🇯🇵 Tokyo | Japan | 185 ms |
Estimates are computed from great-circle distance × 1.35 route factor, at 200 km/ms in fibre, plus 2 ms of equipment latency. They are a floor, not a measurement.
Frequently asked questions
Is South Africa a good place to host a server?
NAPAfrica Johannesburg is the largest exchange on the continent — the default for anything serving sub-Saharan Africa.
Is South Africa in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes?
No. South Africa is not a member of the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances, which is one reason it appears in our core tier.
Does the DMCA apply to a server in South Africa?
No. The DMCA is United States copyright statute and binds service providers situated in the US. A server in South Africa is governed by South Africa copyright law, which generally requires a court order rather than a private notice. Copyright still applies; only the enforcement mechanism differs.
How fast is Johannesburg from Europe and North America?
Estimated round trips are approximately 119 ms to Frankfurt and 179 ms to Ashburn. These are computed from great-circle distance rather than measured, so treat them as a floor.
Do I need to identify myself to order in Johannesburg?
No. Every OnionVPS location has the same signup: an email address you control and a cryptocurrency payment. No name, no address, no document, no card.
Is my server data subject to South African law?
Yes, your server is physically in South Africa, so local law applies. This means the DMCA's notice-and-takedown regime does not bind the host, and copyright takedowns generally require a court order. For other legal matters, you should consult a local attorney familiar with the jurisdiction.
What is the latency between Johannesburg and Maputo?
The estimated round-trip time between OnionVPS's Johannesburg region and its Maputo region is 8 ms. This low latency makes it practical to run distributed services across these neighbouring regions, such as active-passive failover or geographically redundant databases, without sacrificing performance.
This page is general information, not legal advice.