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Best VPS Hosting Services: 8 Top Providers
Finding the best VPS hosting plan can be challenging with so many web hosts available. This review aims to help you make an informed decision. We have researched and compiled a list of 8 top VPS providers based on performance, scalability, and value.
The Benefits of VPS Hosting
VPS hosting is a great option for developers who need more control and resources than a shared hosting plan can give. Furthermore, VPS hosting provides one of the best ways to scale without the high costs of a dedicated server.
The key benefits of upgrading from shared hosting to VPS include:
- Increased Bandwidth. This is crucial for handling high-volume traffic and large files without paying extra for dedicated hosting.
- More Control. Root access allows customization and configuration to meet specific requirements that shared hosting cannot.
- Dedicated Resources. Unlike shared hosting, you can ensure your environment isn’t affected by others on the same server, maintaining performance and responsiveness.
As a result, your web applications remain fast and responsive on a VPS compared to shared hosting.
But, not all VPS web hosts are alike. This next section breaks down the criteria we used to evaluate the best VPS hosting companies on the market.
Top Factors of the Best VPS Hosting Provider
When evaluating the best VPS hosting providers, we consider these factors:
- Reliability & Performance. Uptime guarantees, server maintenance, and overall performance are crucial. Consider your web host’s key hardware and software specifications like RAM, CPU, and SSD storage.
- Scalability. The ability to upgrade hosting plans as your project grows is essential for any web hosting service. The best web hosting providers offer flexible scalability options.
- Value & Pricing. The affordability of your hosting plan should match the features and resources you need.
Comparing the Best VPS Hosting Providers
Here are our top picks for the best VPS hosting.
RamNode
RamNode’s unmanaged VPS options are divided into three categories based on specific needs: standard, storage, or performance. Plan specifications will differ based on the category, catering to more storage or faster server speed depending on your hosting needs.
RamNode is the best option for technical users on a tighter budget. Customers can opt for additional features with the add-ons RamNode provides for an extra cost.
Stand-out features:
- Block Storage Volumes Add-on
- NVMe Storage
- Flexible Billing
- Privately owned
Reliability & Performance
RamNode’s Premium KVM VPS features NVMe SSDs for high-speed performance and RAID 10 for data protection. Their Tier 1 network ensures consistent global connectivity.
The following table shows the resources you can expect from this web host.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
With up to 18 plans, RamNode offers extensive VPS hosting options for CPU, storage, RAM, and bandwidth. You can upgrade or downgrade your resources directly from your admin console to better suit your VPS hosting needs.
Likewise, RamNode’s Block storage volumes add-on can help with high availability and fault tolerance.
Value & Pricing
Starting at $4 per month, RamNode’s flexible billing and variety of add-ons make them a cost-effective web host for technical users.
The following table lists additional features that RamNode’s VPS plans come with.
Additional VPS Plan Features
RamNode gives its customers more autonomy regarding what features they want to include in their hosting plan and how much extra they want to pay. This pricing model is extremely advantageous to VPS users who need more control over their hosting costs.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting offers managed and unmanaged VPS solutions. Its specs are geared toward speed, flexibility, and security, which makes it the best VPS host for users who value performance.
Likewise, InMotion Hosting provides a variety of support channels to complement its beefy server features. In addition to 24/7 hosting support, this web host offers add-on support services and channels.
Stand-out features:
- 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee
- NVMe storage
- 24/7 Technical Support
- Managed Hosting Services
- Employee Owned and Server Ownership
Reliability & Performance
InMotion Hosting guarantees 99.99% uptime with a money-back guarantee of up to 90 days–the longest guarantee amongst the alternatives we review in this article. This web host equips its data centers with triple storage redundancy and 24/7 monitoring to enhance reliability.
For VPS customers looking for excellent VPS performance, plans include NVMe SSDs on their VPS 16 vCPU plan.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
InMotion Hosting is 100% employee-owned, making its VPS hosting plans an attractive option regarding scalability and support.
This web host also owns its server infrastructure, which allows for tighter security and flexibility to offer custom dedicated solutions as needed. Easy upgrades can be done through its Account Management Panel.
Furthermore, unlimited bandwidth on higher-tier plans supports growing traffic without additional charges or throttling.
Value & Pricing
Starting at $14.99, InMotion provides robust features and support, providing good value for performance-focused users.
Additional VPS Plan Features
Bluehost
Bluehost only provides unmanaged VPS environments. While its plans are pricier, Bluehost does provide all the essentials to manage a VPS, making it a decent choice for VPS.
Stand-out features:
- Free SSL Certificates & DDoS Protection
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Unlimited Websites
- 24/7 Support
Reliability & Performance
Bluehost offers satisfactory performance with SSD storage and unlimited bandwidth but lacks NVMe options. The 30-day money-back guarantee is shorter than competitors.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
Unmetered bandwidth is advantageous to accommodate spikes in website traffic. Bluehost’s multi-server management offers an easy way to add more VPS services. However, they don’t own their server infrastructure, which can delay upgrades.
Value & Pricing
Priced higher at $31.99, Bluehost provides essential features but may not be suitable for larger projects needing more resources. Here is what customers can expect with their Bluehost VPS web hosting plan:
Additional VPS Plan Features
Hostinger
Hostinger offers unmanaged hosting for VPS with interesting tools to assist you in managing your VPS, such as its in-browser terminal and AI tools. Likewise, Hostinger VPS packages still include 24/7 general support and are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Stand-out features:
- AI Assistant Tools
- Browser Terminal
- CDN Service
- 24/7 Chat Support
Reliability & Performance
Hostinger offers NVMe SSDs and a 99.9% uptime guarantee, making it a reliable web hosting company. However, bandwidth is limited to 32TB. A lower bandwidth limit puts you at risk of throttling or additional charges for excess use.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
Hostinger’s plans, with up to 8 vCPUs and 32GB RAM, support various applications. Upgrading to a higher plan is also very affordable at Hostinger, so scaling up on a budget is easy.
Likewise, Hostinger retains ownership over its servers, ensuring faster upgrades.
Value & Pricing
VPS plans start at $4.99, making Hostinger an affordable VPS option but requires more technical knowledge to manage. Hostinger would be suitable for advanced users.
Additional VPS Plan Features
HostGator
HostGator offers fully managed VPS hosting packages with unmetered bandwidth. This is particularly beneficial for VPS users who experience volatility in website traffic or resource usage.
Stand-out features:
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Downtime Compensation
- Free Site Migration
Reliability & Performance
HostGator’s VPS offers traditional SSD storage and a 99.99% uptime guarantee. Customers are eligible for credit if they experience downtime. This is especially appealing for users looking for downtime compensation.
Additionally, its plans include 24/7 server monitoring, redundant network, and backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
HostGator offers unmetered bandwidth to help handle spikes in traffic or resource usage.
However, not owning its server infrastructure can limit flexibility for scaling up resources.
Value & Pricing
At $36.99, HostGator is pricier but provides standard features suited for small businesses and users looking for managed VPS solutions.
Additional VPS Plan Features
Hostwinds
Hostwinds offers a choice of self-managed or managed hosting for VPS. Users will appreciate its scalability options with up to 10 plan tiers.
Stand-out features:
- Up to 10 Plan Tiers
- 99.9999% Uptime
- Server Monitoring Support
Reliability & Performance
Hostwinds claims 99.9999% uptime but lacks a robust money-back guarantee. However, Hostwinds provides a redundant network, real-time server monitoring, and daily backups to support reliability.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
Hostwinds offers 10 plan tiers and owns its server infrastructure, facilitating easy upgrades. Thus, facilitating more hosting options to upgrade or downgrade based on your needs.
Lastly, Hostwinds provides additional add-ons that help with scalability such as load balancers and block storage
Value & Pricing
Starting at $8.24, Hostwinds provides competitive pricing with extensive plan options. Hostwind’s highest-tiered VPS is among the most expensive providers we review at $395.24. However, this price includes comprehensive managed VPS plan features and customers can pay only for what they need.
Additional VPS Plan Features
Liquid Web
Liquid Web also has several plan tiers, divided into three categories. Its downtime compensation and security features make Liquid Web appealing to enterprises for uptime and cybersecurity.
Stand-out features:
- Downtime Compensation
- Up to 12 Plan Tiers
- Backup Storage
- Cloudflare CDN
Reliability & Performance
Liquid Web offers a 100% Network and Power uptime SLA with downtime compensation. This can be very attractive to enterprise customers susceptible to losing serious revenue due to downtime.
Interestingly, most, if not all, plans here rely on traditional SSDs.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
Liquid Web’s extensive hosting offerings and uptime guarantee support zero downtime during upgrades. However, Liquid Web is a Nexcess brand and does not have direct ownership over their servers which can impact turnaround and flexibility.
Value & Pricing
Starting at $20.06, Liquid Web’s pricing is higher but offers robust features for enterprise needs.
Additional VPS Plan Features
OVH
OVH offers affordable unmanaged VPS hosting environments that are a great fit for more technical users.
Stand-out features:
- NVMe SSD
- Unmetered Bandwidth
Reliability & Performance
OVH offers strong specs and a 99.9% uptime SLA, but no money-back guarantee.
Plan Spec Overview
Scalability
Although OVH is not a private company, it does own its servers, which ensures faster upgrades. It also includes unmetered bandwidth to handle spikes in traffic and resource usage, which is a key benefit of a VPS hosting plan.
Value & Pricing
Starting at $4.20, OVH provides affordable plans with essential features to help you manage your VPS.
Additional VPS Plan Features
The Future of VPS Hosting: Trends and Innovations to Watch
In recent years, there has been a steady increase in demand for virtual private server (VPS) hosting services. This surge is driven by more businesses and individuals seeking flexible and scalable web hosting. Several key trends and innovations are emerging from VPS hosting providers as technology progresses.
Key Trends to Watch:
- Infrastructure Enhancement: Hosting providers continue to invest in high-speed servers, solid-state drives (SSDs), and virtualization technologies.
These upgrades create a seamless VPS hosting experience, allowing websites and applications to run faster, smoother, and more efficiently.
- Managed VPS Hosting: The trend towards managed VPS hosting plans is rising. Normally, managing VPS servers requires technical expertise. However, many web hosts now offer managed plans, handling server maintenance, security, and software updates on behalf of the users.
This shift allows businesses to allocate their time and resources towards core operations, while still reaping the benefits of VPS hosting.
- Customization Options: Web hosts providing more customizable plans to meet individual user requirements is increasing. This includes the ability to scale resources based on demand, and the freedom to choose specific operating systems and software configurations.
Such flexibility empowers businesses to tailor their hosting plan to their unique needs.
These trends underscore the evolving landscape of VPS hosting, where infrastructure improvements, managed services, and customization play pivotal roles in meeting the diverse needs of businesses and developers alike.
Conclusion
Choosing the best VPS host depends on your specific needs. For affordable, no-frills hosting, RamNode is ideal. Whereas, InMotion Hosting offers excellent performance and the best VPS support. Hostinger provides value for advanced users, while Liquid Web caters to large enterprises with extensive features. Evaluate your requirements and select the web host that best aligns with your technical and budgetary needs.