In fact they are cheap....
It all depends how you choose them, what are your requirements and needs. Generally, if you choose wisely, you are able to cut the bill to be < $50. It can be done. It does not mean that server is feauture-poor; just the opposite - you get full-featured server.
You can cut even more once you buy physical server - its one time price but its worth it. With size of 15,6" laptop, you get: Xeon 4,8 GHz * 6, up to 256GB RAM, 4*2TB SSD. It costs (one-time) $1299, but monthly cost is +/- $40 (with server running 24/7). Its worth trying.
On SSD you get nothing (fully bootable but empty), you get dvd with OS (usually Linux - I got Arch cause I ordered it).
Once unpacked, insert DVD, boot it from there, install system, configure your webspace (the way you want it - its yours) and enjoy.