Two different products that overlap in one place
Njalla is best known as a privacy-first way to hold a domain name: it registers the domain in its own name and grants you full use of it, so your details never appear in any registry. It also sells Linux VPS and a VPN. BitVPS sells one thing, Linux KVM servers, and the distinguishing feature is that there is no account at all. The overlap is the VPS line, and if that is what you are shopping for, the two are worth comparing on how they work rather than on slogans. Everything below about Njalla was checked against njal.la in October 2026 and describes mechanics only.
Njalla (as of October 2026)
- Company and jurisdiction: Njalla’s terms name Njalla SRL as the provider, and its about page states the company is based in Costa Rica. Earlier material associated the service with a Saint Kitts and Nevis entity; the current public pages say Costa Rica.
- Server locations: the servers page says the VPS machines are in undisclosed locations in Sweden, with a 10 Gbps backbone and a per-plan traffic allowance.
- Account model: you sign up with an email address or an XMPP address and set a password. The terms say these are the only data Njalla collects and that you are not obliged to provide anything else. PGP-signed and encrypted outgoing email is supported.
- Payment: the FAQ lists Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, Ethereum and PayPal. Payments go into a Njalla wallet balance, from which services are bought; the terms say payments are made in advance and are non-refundable unless Njalla decides otherwise.
- Domains: the model is that Njalla is the registrant on paper and you hold usage rights, with the option to transfer formal ownership to yourself at any time. This is the feature most people come for.
- VPS mechanics: root access over SSH; the platform is described as Incus with a Ceph storage backend. Outbound SMTP is blocked, and network scanning is not allowed.
- Tor: Njalla publishes an onion address for its site.
BitVPS
- Company and jurisdiction: the company operates under US law. Datacenters are in Germany (Falkenstein, Nuremberg), Finland (Helsinki), the US (Ashburn, Hillsboro) and Singapore, chosen per server.
- Account model: none. Ordering is plan, location, OS, an email address, payment. The server is managed through a magic link to that address (root password, console, reinstall, power, extend). There is no password, no profile and no list of past orders.
- Payment: Bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum, Solana and other coins via the crypto checkout, cards via Stripe. Prices are in USD and identical for every payment method. Crypto has a small per-coin minimum at checkout; cards from $0.50.
- Billing: prepaid in days, from 1 day to years, at the monthly price divided by 30. Monthly recurring subscriptions are card-only. Servers are deleted at the end of the paid period unless extended, with a reminder email first.
- Product: Linux KVM, NVMe, root access, IPv4 and IPv6, 20 TB/month outbound included, instant provisioning after payment confirms. Add-ons: extra IPv4 addresses and automated backups. No domains, no VPN product, no Lightning.
- Tor: the site has an onion mirror and ordering and management work over it. Tor relays and bridges are permitted on servers; Tor exit nodes are not.
Side by side
| Njalla | BitVPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Core product | Privacy-proxy domain registration, VPS, VPN | Linux KVM VPS only |
| Account | Yes: email or XMPP plus password | None; magic link to an email address |
| Identity asked for | Email/XMPP and password only, per terms | Email only |
| Payment methods | BTC, LTC, XMR, ETH, PayPal | BTC, XMR, ETH, SOL, other coins, cards |
| Billing model | Prepaid wallet balance; advance payment | Prepaid days (1 day to years); card-only monthly subscriptions |
| Company jurisdiction | Costa Rica (Njalla SRL) | United States |
| Server locations | Sweden (undisclosed sites) | Germany, Finland, US, Singapore |
| Tor access to the service | Onion address published | Onion mirror; order and manage over Tor |
| Outbound SMTP from VPS | Blocked, per servers page | Not addressed here; ask support before building a mail server |
| Domains | Yes, registered in Njalla’s name on your behalf | No |
| Order history | In the logged-in account | None; one link per server |
Ordering, renewal and support in practice
The day-to-day mechanics differ more than the feature lists suggest. At Njalla you create an account with an email or XMPP address, fund a wallet balance in one of the accepted coins or PayPal, and buy services from that balance; the terms say payments are made in advance, that a renewal reminder is sent at least 14 days before a service expires, and that payments are final and non-refundable unless Njalla decides otherwise. Everything you own sits in one logged-in view, which the terms point to as the place where all data held about you is displayed.
At BitVPS there is no balance and nothing to log into. You pay for a specific server for a specific number of days, the access link arrives by email, and extending means opening that link, choosing more days and paying again in any supported method. A reminder email goes out before expiry; if the term lapses the server is deleted. Underpaid crypto invoices are credited against the order and support can top up or refund. Because there is no account, there is also no single page showing every server you have; you keep the emails.
Support channels follow the same pattern. Njalla’s FAQ describes contact by email with PGP and by XMPP with OMEMO or OTR. BitVPS support is email only, [email protected], with a PGP key published on the site; there is no live chat and no phone line at either.
Where each one fits
Choose Njalla when the domain is the point. Holding a domain through a proxy registrant, paying for it in Monero, and keeping the site on a server in the same account is a coherent package for a publication or a project that needs a name without a name attached. The VPS is a convenience that comes with it, in a single country, with a wallet-balance billing model that suits long-running services.
Choose BitVPS when you want a raw Linux box with the least possible paperwork, in a specific country, for a specific number of days. There is nothing to register, the server is up minutes after a crypto payment confirms, and the term can be one day or two years. The tradeoffs are the mirror image: no domains, no VPN product, no account to collect servers under, a six-location list, prepaid-days billing with deletion at expiry, crypto minimums, no Lightning, and a company under US law rather than Costa Rican.
They also combine without friction. A domain held at Njalla can point at a BitVPS server by changing its DNS records, which gives you the proxy registrant for the name and a server in Germany, Finland, the US or Singapore behind it. Neither party needs to know about the other.
Which plan to pick
If you are coming from a small Njalla VPS for a blog, Mastodon instance or Matrix server, the closest BitVPS shapes are the BVX11 (2 vCPU, 2 GB, 40 GB NVMe, from $10/mo in the EU), the BVCX23 (2 vCPU, 4 GB, 40 GB, $11/mo) or the BVX21 (3 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB, from $18/mo). Pick Falkenstein or Helsinki for the lowest price, or Ashburn, Hillsboro or Singapore if the jurisdiction or latency matters. Configure a server, pay in Monero or Bitcoin, and point your domain at the IP in the access-link email.