As of September 1, 2026, new orders at RackGenius include a 25% memory surcharge. This article explains what it applies to, why it exists, and what happens to it going forward.
The short version
- New orders placed on or after September 1, 2026 carry a 25% memory surcharge.
- It applies to VPS, dedicated servers, web hosting, and game hosting. Colocation and IP transit are not affected.
- Services you already had with us before September 1, 2026 are not affected and will not be affected later.
- Our base plan pricing has not changed. The surcharge is a separate line that can move as our hardware costs move.
Why the surcharge exists
Memory pricing has gone up more in the last year than at any point in the history of the component. In July 2025, we paid $400 for a 128GB DDR5 kit. The same part from the same vendor now costs us $1,900.
The cause is AI datacenter buildout. Memory manufacturers have shifted production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory and the enterprise parts going into AI infrastructure, which pulled supply away from the standard server memory the rest of the industry runs on. NAND flash moved in the same direction for the same reason, which is why storage is also tight and expensive. The manufacturers have publicly said the shortage continues into 2027.
We bought hardware ahead of the curve where we could and absorbed the difference internally through the first part of 2026. That is workable while filling nodes that were already paid for. It stops being workable on the next round of hardware, which gets purchased at current prices.
Why a surcharge instead of a price increase
We expect memory pricing to come back down. We do not expect it to return to where it was before the AI buildout started. Where it lands is not something anyone can predict right now, and setting permanent plan pricing in the middle of a market moving this fast means guessing.
A surcharge is a line item we can adjust in either direction as our costs change. A price increase is a number that becomes permanent by default. We would rather keep our base pricing intact and adjust the surcharge than bake a temporary spike into our plans and leave it there.
When the market settles and long term component costs are clear, we will price our plans against real numbers and the surcharge will be removed.
What the surcharge applies to
Affected: VPS, dedicated servers, web hosting, and game hosting. Anything where RackGenius supplies the hardware.
Not affected: Colocation and IP transit. You supply your own hardware in a colocation rack, and transit has no memory cost attached to it, so neither carries the surcharge.
Existing services
If your service was active before September 1, 2026, nothing changes. You keep the pricing you originally signed up at, the surcharge is not applied to your renewals, and your service will not be moved onto surcharge pricing at a later date. This applies for as long as you keep the service.
The surcharge applies only to orders placed on or after September 1, 2026.
The surcharge can change
The 25% figure reflects what memory costs us today. If our component costs move significantly in either direction, the surcharge moves with them, and services ordered on or after September 1, 2026 will be billed at the current rate at renewal.
We will give at least 7 days notice by email before any change to the surcharge takes effect. A change will never appear on an invoice before it has appeared in your inbox.
Legacy services from before September 1, 2026 are excluded from this entirely.
Hardware and specifications are not changing
A common response to component costs across the industry is to hold pricing steady and quietly reduce what is included, whether that is less memory in the same plan, slower storage, or heavier oversubscription on shared nodes. We are not doing that. Plan specifications, hardware quality, and allocation ratios stay as they are. Any change to what is included in a plan will be announced directly.
Common questions
Does the surcharge affect my existing VPS or dedicated server?
No. Services active before September 1, 2026 keep their original pricing.
I am adding memory to an existing service. Does the surcharge apply to the upgrade?
No. Additional surcharges would only apply to new services and not upgrades.
Does the surcharge apply at renewal on a new order?
Yes. It is part of the recurring price of services ordered on or after September 1, 2026, at whatever the current surcharge rate is when the invoice is generated.
Will I see the surcharge as a separate line on my invoice?
Yes. It is billed separately from the plan price so that it is clear what you are paying and why.
How long will the surcharge last?
Until component pricing stabilizes. Memory manufacturers currently expect the shortage to continue well into 2027, so this is not a matter of weeks. When conditions allow, we will reprice plans against real component costs and remove the surcharge.
Will the surcharge go down if memory prices go down?
Yes. It moves in both directions and we will pass reductions along the same way we are passing this increase along.
Can I lock in current pricing?
Existing services are already locked at their original pricing with no action needed. If you are placing a new order and want to discuss term pricing, open a billing ticket.
Why not just raise prices like everyone else?
Because we expect this to be temporary and we would rather adjust a surcharge downward later than pretend an inflated price is the new normal. We have never raised a price at RackGenius before this, and we are not treating it casually now.
Questions
If you have a question this article does not answer, please open a ticket from the client area.
