Dedicated server hosting gives your website the power of a whole server. It means you are not sharing the server with anyone else, unlike shared hosting. Your site can better manage a surge in traffic and added functionality. Dedicated hosting is ideal for high-traffic websites and eCommerce stores with over 30 products.
Many dedicated hosting plans cost about $500 and above. Most website owners might not be able to shell out that amount monthly. Fortunately, you can get reliable dedicated hosting plans without a tearing hole in your pocket.
Our in-house hosting reviewers conducted extensive research into the cheapest dedicated hosting plans with the best features, support, and server performance. The result is this list of the top cheap dedicated server hosting providers. Depending on your hosting needs, we have curated a list with $50-100 dedicated hosting plans.
Key Considerations When Choosing a Dedicated Server
We evaluated hundreds of dedicated server hosting service providers to create this review based on relevant data points. We then distilled our findings into a 5-point system based on a five-star rating.
- Pricing: This article is about the cheapest dedicated hosting plans, so pricing is a significant consideration. We considered the plan’s starting prices, renewal fees, and add-on costs for upgrades and services not provided.
- Performance: We assessed each provider’s server speed, reputation for uptime reliability, and overall performance.
- Features: Our experts reviewed the essential features in the hosting plans to see if they offer value for money. We looked for storage, RAM, CPU, and bandwidth specifications. We also considered other features such as automatic backups, CDN, SSL certification, and multiple IP addresses.
- Customer support: Even advanced web experts encounter issues when managing dedicated servers. We checked the types and level of support each provider offers and their reputation for responsiveness and SLA-backed response guarantee.
- User-friendliness: To be honest, dedicated hosting is not beginner friendly. However, it doesn’t have to be overly complicated. We included providers that offer managed dedicated hosting plans. It usually costs extra, though. For those who are up to the task, we also noted providers that offer semi-managed or self-managed dedicated hosting solutions.
The Best Cheap Dedicated Server Hosting Services of 2023 (Bought and Tested)
- Overall score: 5
- Features: 5
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 5
- Pricing: 5
- Reliability: 5
Overall score – 5: Kamatera is where dedicated server hosting meets affordable pricing without marketing gimmicks. However, you should note that Kamatera doesn’t offer a traditional dedicated server infrastructure. It offers cloud server infrastructure. This infrastructure offers many benefits, such as infinite scalability, an unbeatable price, performance, and availability.
Features – 5: Kamatera offers many enterprise-grade services, including a user-configured hosting environment, customizable cloud solutions, proactive firewall management, and load balancers.
Support – 5: Kamatera’s support is available weekly via live chat and phone. You can get personalized customer support. You can also request managed support if you require help with your server.
User Friendly – 5: The server management interface has a custom look, but it is straightforward to grasp. You can also get managed support to ensure you never have to worry about the technical aspects of your server. In addition, you can contact customer support to upgrade your package based on your needs.
Pricing – 5: Kamatera allows you to pay hourly or monthly. You also get 30 days to use the hosting solution for free. The most budget-friendly cloud hosting configuration comes with one CPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB storage, 5,000 GB bandwidth, and 1 Public IP, costing only $4/mo. But we recommend you go for higher configurations. You can cancel anytime if you are not satisfied.
Reliability – 5: Thanks to its dedicated hosting solution built on cloud infrastructure, you can expect round-the-clock excellent server performance. The provider offers consistent 99.95% guaranteed uptime and data center locations in America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Additional parameter – Instant scalability: Kamatera has the best options for instant scalability. You can add or remove resources based on your website needs. This host provides you the option to get the exact CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth for your hosting needs. When you upgrade your resources, the extra resources become available instantly for your website without downtime.
Kamatera has the best server-level customization and scalability options for all websites.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- High level of flexibility, scalability, and customization
- Full cloud-based infrastructure
- Flexible plans and customization
- High-end dedicated cloud hosting
- 15 data centers worldwide
- Highly effective security services
- Pay-as-you-go solution
- 99.95% uptime guarantee
- Exceptionally high-end hosting is available
- 3-day free trial with all cloud-based products
Cons
- Aimed at more experienced users
- Daily backups aren’t free
- Overall score: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 5
- Pricing: 5
- Reliability: 5
Overall score – 4.9: InterServer offers inexpensive hosting packages, plenty of features, Windows dedicated hosting, and allows server customization. There are many reasons for recommending this web host. Still, if you are looking for a cheap yet reliable Windows dedicated hosting solution, then with dedicated hosting plans starting at just $44 a month, InterServer is your best bet.
Features – 4.8: The key features are managed support, a free Webuzo panel, and DDoS protection. Your plan will also include remote reboots, 24/7 uptime monitoring, remote KVM, IPMI or ILO access, and data migration. The provider provides semi-managed dedicated hosting, web and mail server repair, OS reinstallation, and more. We took some points away because a control panel isn’t included in the plans, but you can get it for an extra fee.
Support – 5: InterServer cares about its customers and shows in its customer support service. You can reach the customer care team via phone, email, and the ticketing system. They also offer a knowledge center, FAQs, and self-service.
User Friendly – 5: InterServer dedicated hosting is not complicated. However, you will need basic hosting knowledge to be able to set up your hosting environment. We give a total score because the web host handles basic activities such as operating system reinstallation and DNS, control panel reinstall, hardware issues, SQL, and FTP server repair for free.
Pricing – 5: InterServer dedicated hosting plans are very cheap, but you have to search to arrive at their cheapest hosting plan – the Xeon E3-1230. This plan costs only $44/month and comes with 4 Core CPUs, (2) HDD or (4) SSD RAM, 32GB SSD, 150TB bandwidth, and DDoS protection. You can scale up the resources to meet your needs and select your preferred OS from CentOS, Linux, Windows, and more.
Reliability – 5: You can expect solid server performance but don’t expect the same performance as you would with a $1000 dedicated server hosting plan. The company offers credits if your uptime falls below 99.9%, so that is something to take comfort in. The average response time is between 513ms- 538ms. You can expect better performance if your target audience is in North America since all of InterServer’s data centers are in the US.
Additional parameter: Budget plan for resource-heavy websites: If your website constantly demands processing power or storage and you are on a budget, you’ll want to look at InterServer dedicated hosting solutions. While its starter plans offer the best value for your money, powerful dedicated hosting performance starts with its higher-tier plans. For instance, you can get up to 50 TB of disk space and 52 CPU cores at affordable pricing. Plus, the provider provides setup and managed support for free.
Interserver deserves the utmost attention for its excellent dedicated hosting services, high processing power, and storage levels, and reasonable pricing.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Monthly billing
- Fast server provision
- Wide range of customizations and configuration
- 150TB transfer
- Free 24/7 uptime monitoring
- Remote reboots
- Free expert data migration services
- Advanced DDoS Protection
- Four-hour Provisioning
- Free professional Managed Support
- Zero setup fees
Cons
- Only two data centers, both in the USA
- Control panel not included
- Overall score: 4.7
- Features: 4
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 5
- Pricing: 4.7
- Reliability: 4.9
Overall score – 4.7: You will be hard-pressed to find any list of high-quality web hosting providers without InMotion Hosting. When it comes to dedicated server hosting, the company offers a comprehensive range of unmanaged dedicated server hosting options. Aside from their high-quality and cheap dedicated server solutions starting from $99.99/month, they also offer surprisingly generous features and hosting resources.
Features – 4: All plans come with DDoS protection, root access, and free Ansible Control Node. You can also expect free setup, remote KVM, and 2048-bit encryption SSL certificates. Other features include free website transfers, tier-1 network connectivity, a security suite, and easy one-click installs. On the managed plan, you get free storage and cPanel licenses.
Support- 5: 24/7 dedicated server support is what you get from this web host. Inmotion hosting also offers Launch Assist (a one-on-one help with a full-system admin offered to new customers).
User Friendly – 5: We recommend those who are not tech-savvy go for its managed hosting plans. But for professionals, InMotion’s Bare Metal dedicated hosting services are the best way to get complete control over your hosting environment while minimizing hosting costs. The Launch Assist programs make it easy for anyone to set up their server.
Pricing – 4.7: The cheapest dedicated web server plan is the Essential plan. It costs $99.99/mo for bare metal hosting and $139.99/mo for managed Hosting. It includes 16 GB of DDR3 RAM, 1gbps unmetered bandwidth, 1 TB SSD, and five dedicated IP addresses. If you want to unlock beastly performance, go for the monthly plans that cost $439 and $559. You can also lock in a lifetime discount on these expensive plans. And if you want the option to change your mind, all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Reliability – 4.9: The average response time is about 414 ms, which is quite impressive considering the averages of most cheap providers. This response speed is without any enhancements. With the proper server optimization, you should experience faster loading times. And although it offers a less-than-ideal uptime, it is still fast and doesn’t qualify as a dealbreaker.
Additional parameter – Best unmanaged dedicated server hosting: InMotion Hosting offers managed plans, but if you want to save cost, you should check their bare metal server hosting solutions. These plans are 24% to 33% cheaper than their managed counterparts and offer most of the features in the managed plans. You also get considerable flexibility in setting up your hosting packages and managing your hosting environment.
InMotion Hosting gets kudos for its quality web hosting solutions at reasonable prices.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 5 IP addresses
- Corero DDoS Protection
- Free setup
- Annual, six-month, three-month and one-month plans are available
- Fully customizable
- Choice of Bare Metal or cPanel
- Free SSL certificate
- Wide-ranging plans and configurations
- Customized Firewall
- Free Launch Assist
Cons
- Free site migration only on cPanel plans
- Discounts only on the 1-year plan
- Overall score: 4.9
- Features: 5
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 5
Overall score – 4.9: HostGator’s ‘Value’ plan is what earns the web company a place on our list of the most affordable dedicated hosting plans. The provider offers web hosting services, competitive pricing, and excellent customer support.
Features – 5: HostGator’s biggest attraction is its generosity. Users can expect full root access, DDoS protection, and an IP-based firewall. All plans come with free content transfers, backups, unlimited MySQL, three dedicated IPv4 IPs, unlimited outgoing emails, and unmetered bandwidth. HostGator lets you select your preferred control panel: cPanel/WHM, Softaculous, Plesk, or Plesk Application Vault.
Support – 5: The web host offers 24/7/365 support and promises to “work when you work.” Aside from the direct customer support channels, including live chat and phone support, you can also get helpful information from the video tutorials, knowledge base, and blog.
User Friendly – 5: You can choose between fully or semi-managed Hosting as a customer. The fully managed hosting option is best for you if you want user-friendly Hosting. The provider also offers flexibility and controls to help you configure your server.
Pricing – 4.5: There are three dedicated server plans: Value ($89.98/month), power ($119.89/month), and Enterprise ($139.99/month). The Value plan offers four cores, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and unmetered bandwidth. We removed some points because HostGator doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee or refunds for dedicated Hosting.
Reliability – 5: All users have HostGator’s 99.9% uptime guarantee to back them up if their server goes down for an extended period. However, thanks to HostGator’s consistent performance, you are unlikely to experience that. The company has an average response time of 448ms, which can be better with the correct server configurations. If you target audiences in North America, your website should perform better as all of HostGator’s data centers are in the States.
Additional parameter – Best value for money: HostGator value plan offers the highest uptime guarantee of any provider, at 99.99%, along with a massive 1 TB of disk space. Combined with excellent support and unmetered bandwidth, they make it difficult to find a provider that rivals their offering.
HostGator is famous for its fast and reliable performance and award-winning customer support.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Best uptime guarantee of any provider (99.99%)
- Promotional price for up to three years
- Great storage capacity, with 1 TB disk space
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Choice of Linux or Windows OS
- 24/7/365 live chat and email support
- Full configuration control
- Managed and semi-managed options
- Full Root Access
- Informative Knowledge base
- 24/7 Server Monitoring
- IP-based Firewall
- Advanced DDoS Protection
- 3 Dedicated IPs
- Flexibility in configuration
- Full root access
- 100% uptime result
Cons
- Only U.S.-based data centers
- No money-back guarantee for dedicated Hosting
- Overall score: 4.8
- Features: 4.5
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 5
Overall score – 4.8: GoDaddy is famous for many reasons, but we include them because of their SSD NVMe hosting plans. The web host promises up to 25x server performance with SSD drives, so it is worth looking at. The provider also offers other website-related servers, such as domain registration, making it a one-stop shop for all your website needs.
Features – 4.5: All dedicated hosting plans from GoDaddy include bare metal servers, server monitoring and alerts, NVMe SSDs or HDDs, free SSL certificate, and DDoS protection. The web host also provides Linux and Windows dedicated hosting services with proper memory allocations.
Support – 5: All GoDaddy hosting plans offer free standard hosting support. You can pay for server management services like fully managed support and task-based services.
User Friendly – 5: GoDaddy offers a very easy-to-use control panel. You can also use the industry standard cPanel/WHM or the Plesk Web Host Edition available on Linux CentOS. If you require hands-on support for server tasks, you can go for the optional paid server management services.
Pricing – 4.5: GoDaddy offers a substantial discount on all their dedicated server hosting plans. All plans offer HDD and SSD NVMe drives, but the latter will cost you more. The starting plan (DS-32) is self-managed and costs $129.99/mo for a 2-year term. Upon renewal, you will pay $169.99/mo. For the SSD NVMe option, you will pay 139.99/mo (2 yr term) and $179.99 upon renewal.
Reliability – 5: You can choose from 2 global data centers: the United States or Europe. The web host also offers a 99.99% uptime guarantee. You can request a discount if your server goes down for an extended period. They also offer to monitor server uptime, resources and domain so you can stay updated on your server performance.
Additional parameter – Dedicated server hosting for system admins: If you are a system admin looking for a dedicated hosting plan with powerful server capabilities, you should check GoDaddy’s hosting solutions. They offer high-performance server options with isolated resources. You can use their dedicated hosting solutions to run mission-critical applications where latency and uptime matter.
GoDaddy is famous for its 99.99% uptime guarantee, robust, easy-to-use control panel options, and top-of-the-line bare metal servers.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Good storage, with 1 TB of disk space
- Available for Windows and Linux
- Affordable Pricing
- Good Uptime and Speed
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Free SSL
- Three Dedicated IPs
- Full Root Access
Cons
- High Renewal Price
- Slow support response
- Overall score: 4.8
- Features: 5
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 5
Overall score – 4.8: A2 Hosting is gradually becoming synonymous with super fast Hosting thanks to their speed-focused hosting plans, regardless of whether it’s a VPS, dedicated or cloud-based solution. The servers are located in data centers in Europe, Asia, and North America and are highly responsive and stable. As a bonus, their dedicated server plans come at affordable prices.
Features – 5: The provider offers powerful yet cheap unmanaged servers. Even with plans starting at just $105.99/month, A2 Hosting offers a variety of features. The front-line features include full root access, NVMe storage, choice of operating systems, DDoS protection, and Webuzo software installer.
Support – 5: A2 Hosting achieves a perfect score for 24/7 help and support. You can contact A2 Hosting’s specialized support team to resolve any issue, answer your questions and assist you with website migration and Cloudflare Integration for free.
User Friendly – 4.5: People who prioritize control and flexibility enjoy using A2 Hosting’s unmanaged dedicated Hosting. The seven different plans allow multiple configuration options – including the choice of the operating system.
Pricing – 4.5: A2 Hosting offers both managed and unmanaged dedicated servers. The unmanaged servers offer the cheapest plans and are ideal for flexibility and control. The cheapest unmanaged plan, Hyper 1 ($105.99/mo) comes with: 4 cores, 16GB RAM, 2 X 1TB SSD storage and 6TB bandwidth. You can also scale up the number of resources to fit your needs.
Reliability – 5: Speed is A2 Hosting’s shining feature, thanks to its powerful servers and average response time of 246 ms. That response time is on a bare metal server. You can get faster response time with optimizations. The company also offers an uptime guarantee of 99.95%. With data centers in Asia, Europe, and North America, you can be sure that your website will always stay reachable and fast.
Additional parameter – High-speed servers: If you are looking for reliable server performance and fast loading time, then A2 Hosting should be on your radar. The cheapest offering offers fast blazing speeds. They also offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee and global data centers. The actual performance of your server depends on its configuration. So unless you are a tech user, we recommend the managed hosting plans as they are fully optimized for speed, security, and overall performance.
A2Hosting is famous for its affordable price and highly responsive and stable servers, regardless of whether it’s a VPS, dedicated or cloud-based solution.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Good help and support
- Four server locations across the USA, Europe, and Asia-Pacific
- Allows for configuration and considerable control
- Free Webuzo 1-Click Software Installer
- Fast response times
- Best scalability
- Excellent server management
- Anytime Money Back Guarantee
- Turbo Boost for 20x Faster Speeds
- Free SSL certificate
Cons
- Only unmanaged dedicated servers are cheap
- No backups included
- Overall score: 4.7
- Features: 5
- Support: 4.5
- User Friendly: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.5
Overall score – 4.7: IONOS is one of the world’s top hosts and domain registrars. It manages over 90,000 servers and houses over 12 million domains. Due to their long years of experience and housing capabilities, you can expect stellar hosting solutions.
Features – 5: Regarding affordable dedicated servers, only a few providers can compete with 1&1 IONOS. Even at prices as low as $55/mo, they offer all kinds of goodies such as free domain, malware protection, railgun CDN, and a starting plan that includes an eight-core, 8 GB RAM entry-level server.
Support – 4.5: IONOS customer support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can contact them via phone or resolve your issues via its numerous step-by-step guides and help centers.
User Friendly – 4.5: You can choose between self-managed or fully managed plans. If you choose a managed dedicated hosting plan, web experts from IONOS will manage all aspects of your dedicated hosting package. This option allows you to focus on your business while enjoying all the benefits of dedicated hardware.
Pricing – 4.5: IONOS provides a modern machine architecture at an affordable price. The entry-level dedicated hosting plan (A8i SSD) costs $45/mo for six months and then $65/mo. It has 8 CPUs, 8 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD, unmetered traffic, and a free domain.
Reliability – 4.5: IONOS has been in the web hosting business for a while, so we expect stellar performance from them. So forgive us for being slightly disappointed with their slightly above-average response time. That aside, they have data centers in the US, Europe, and other parts of the globe and offer server performance stability.
Additional parameter – Budget-friendly dedicated hosting solution: With plans starting at $45/mo, IONOS is easily our recommendation for budget-friendly dedicated hosting. When you factor in the renewal price and the one-time $50 setup fee for the other plans, it is still cheaper than most other plans. Those who want powerful dedicated hardware can go for its highest-tier plan that offers four cores, 64 GB Ram, and 800 GB SSD storage.
IONOS is famous for its rock-bottom starting prices, ample hosting resources, and fully managed hosting solutions.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Multiple data center locations
- Free SSL certification
- Supports multiple website hosting
- Competitive Pricing
- Money-back guarantee
- Unlimited traffic and fast website speed
- Unlimited secure file transfer protocol
Cons
- Backup is a paid add-on
- Some plans require a one-time $50 setup fee
- Overall score: 4.7
- Features: 5
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 4.5
- Pricing: 4
- Reliability: 5
Overall score – 4.5: TMDHosting offers dedicated server solutions for websites that experience traffic surges. They have been in the web hosting business for over 14 years and have developed the expertise and technology to ensure round-the-clock performance and speed. They also provide swift customer support with an SLA-backed response time of 15 minutes.
Features – 5: TMDHosting offers only Linux hosting. They employ military-grade equipment, charged with SpamExperts filtering, a web-based firewall, and advanced DDoS protection to fortify your server defenses against all forms of attack. They also offer ample hosting resources and cPanel rapid server development. All the plans include unlimited bandwidth and complete server management. Other features include free application updates, free application installation, free template installation, free components installation, and a free domain.
Support – 5: TMDHosting offers 24/7/365 dedicated support and promises a response time of 15 minutes. Their SLA guarantees this promise. The team will also perform security audits on your server every day.
User Friendly – 4.5: All the plans from TMDHosting are fully managed by Linux-certified experts. They will also set up your account within 20 minutes. They also offer free applications and template installation to help you get started without wasting time.
Pricing – 4: You get some of the cheapest starting plans when you sign up with TMDHosting. The cheapest plan costs $79.97/mo regardless of whether you start with a monthly or yearly billing term. The starter plan offers 1 TB storage, four CPU cores with eight threads, and 8 GB DDR4 RAM. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee you can take advantage of if you don’t like the plan. We gave this web host a low score because the renewal prices are double what you pay when starting.
Reliability – 5: TMDHosting optimizes its server for speed and performance, making it excellent for high-traffic websites. The servers employ a dual 10Gbe network for high throughput. The provider leverages its connection with Tier 1 providers and its SSAE-16-certified network facility to provide the perfect hosting solution for intensive traffic and visits. Customers can choose from any of its multiple data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Additional parameter – High traffic dedicated server hosting: Everything about TMDHosting dedicated hosting solution focuses on speed and performance. From its rapid server deployment to its premium security suite, unmatched connectivity, and fully managed servers, the provider is keen on ensuring your website runs optimally, regardless of traffic surges.
TMDHosting is famous for its fully managed hosting solutions and cutting-edge networking technology.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free website transfer
- 15-minute response time guarantee for technical support
- 24/7/365 human monitoring
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- High storage limits
- Activation within 20 minutes
- Free template and plugin installation
- Web-based firewall
- Unmatched connectivity
- Premium support services
Cons
- Regular prices are pretty steep
- Add-on charge for cPanel license
- Overall score: 4.6
- Features: 4.5
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.5
Overall score – 4.6: Bluehost does a lot to advertise its hosting solution and is one of the most popular web host companies. Regarding dedicated hosting, Bluehost doesn’t match others regarding response time or server performance. But with their low prices, we don’t have much reason to complain.
Features – 4.5: Although Bluehost only offers unmanaged dedicated hosting solutions, the plans contain a fair share of features. The features include a control panel, cPanel & root access, free backup, RAID1 storage, easy storage upgrade, an SSL certificate, and a free domain for the first year.
Support – 5: Help and support is Bluehost’s star feature. There are multiple ways to contact the Bluehost support team. Aside from 24/7 dedicated support, they also offer a knowledge base for self-help.
User Friendly – 4.5: If you are a beginner, we recommend you look elsewhere, as Bluehost offers unmanaged dedicated hosting. If you know your stuff, then Bluehost may be ideal for you. They offer a cPanel to make managing your server easier. You can also contact the support team if you run into issues.
Pricing – 4.5: Bluehost has three dedicated server plans: Standard ($79.99/month), Enhanced ($99.99/month), and Premium ($119.99/month). The standard plan offers a four-core CPU, 500 GB of mirrored storage, four GB of RAM, 5 TB of data transfer, and three IP addresses. You might prefer the second-tier plan because it provides 1 TB of storage and twice as much RAM and bandwidth for only $20 more. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, but it doesn’t cover domain fees and add-ons.
Reliability – 4.5: Bluehost delivers impressive performance despite its low price. It is not the best server performance, but if your website requires an affordable dedicated hosting solution, BlueHost plans will do the job. Their average response time of 438ms is adequate. You will also experience better performance if you are targeting US-based visitors.
Additional parameter – Excellent help and support: You might wonder what the fuss is all about for help and support. But you will regret not focusing on it when your website is down, and there is no one to help. Although Bluehost offers self-managed hosting plans, they still offer a 24/7 dedicated support team to assist you with any hosting issue.
Bluehost has the best help and support team and offers comprehensive resources and features.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent help and support
- Promotional price valid for one year
- Free backups included (once enabled)
- Comes with cPanel
- Root access
Cons
- Unmanaged hosting
- Relatively low bandwidth allowance of 5 TB
- Overall score: 4.2
- Features: 4
- Support: 5
- User Friendly: 5
- Pricing: 4
- Reliability: 4
Overall score – 4.2: DreamHost has existed for decades, and is one of the top choices for WordPress websites. They offer fully managed dedicated server hosting, making them a good choice for people just dipping their toes into dedicated hosting. If you are hosting a WordPress website and want the benefits of hassle-free dedicated hosting, then DreamHost might be ideal for you.
Features – 4: DreamHost offers IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, RAID 1 storage, uncapped bandwidth, full-root and shell access, round-the-clock server management, local MySQL database server, DDoS protection, and HDD storage on two of its three plans. We are gravely disappointed by the standard HDD storage, considering that the starter plan costs over $100/mo.
Support – 5: The customer support team is on standby 24/7/365 days to provide pro-level, friendly assistance when you need it. The provider also offers 24/7 tech support and server monitoring. You can rest easy knowing that DreamHost’s in-house experts monitor your servers.
User Friendly – 5: Users get a custom control panel to help them manage everything from one space. And since the hosting plans are fully managed, you won’t have to worry about the technical aspects of your server management. DreamHost will manage and secure your server for you.
Pricing – 4: You can start dedicated web hosting with DreamHost for as low as $149/mo. This starter plan (called the standard plan) offers 4 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, root access tech support, DDoS protection, and uncapped traffic. You must purchase the highest tier plan starting at $279/mo if you want SSD storage.
Reliability – 4: Dedicated servers from DreamHost employ the best software and hardware available to offer extreme server performance. Although their use of HDD might cause some to worry, you can take comfort in DreamHost’s 100% uptime guarantee. This high uptime guarantee is made possible by their multiple data center locations, emergency generators, constant monitoring, and redundant cooling.
Additional parameter – WordPress-friendly Hosting: DreamHost has an official recommendation from WordPress.org, making it an excellent choice for WordPress website owners. So if you are looking for a web hosting provider you can use to host your WordPress website without worry, then DreamHost should be your top consideration.
DreamHost is famous for its official recommendation from WordPress.org.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Highly customizable plans
- Great customer support
- Impressive online reviews
- 24/7 server monitoring
- 100% network uptime guarantee
- Full DDoS protection
Cons
- Only US servers
- HDD storage only
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
Best Cheap Dedicated Server Hosting Services: Final Recommendations
You don’t need to break the bank to enjoy the benefits of hosting your websites on dedicated servers. Some of these dedicated hosting providers offer plans that are almost as cheap as many VPS systems and cloud hosting plans. In addition, they guarantee that you won’t have to share any ounce of resources on the machine with other users.
Kamatera is our top recommendation because it provides unbeatable hosting infrastructure at low prices. You can also configure your server to serve your needs and scale when necessary. However, you can explore other options based on your needs.
For instance, InMotion Hosting offers the best bare metal dedicated hosting plans, while InterServer offers cheap customizable hosting solutions.
Investing in a dedicated server housing plan requires a hefty commitment, but it can be the best option for securing your website and ensuring top performance. Before you choose a plan provider, you should assess what your needs are and the features that are most important to you.
How do we rank, and how should you choose your cheap dedicated server hosting?
Finding a cheap and reliable dedicated hosting provider is a time-consuming process. You have to review each web host and their hosting package. We researched the available providers and ranked them based on critical criteria to save you time. Some of the factors we considered were pricing, performance, customer support, and more.
Here is a quick look at the key points we considered when ranking the cheapest dedicated server hosting providers. Pricing is essential, but it is just one of the many factors we considered.
- Bandwidth and storage: Using a dedicated server means you don’t have to share your server resources with another user. However, you must ensure the resource allocation is enough for your needs. The storage space should be sufficient to store your online files, while the bandwidth should allow seamless data transfer even in periods of high traffic.
- Customer support: We strongly recommend that you don’t overlook customer support. You should ensure the provider offers expert technical support round the clock through channels that are easy for you to access. You can check our expert reviews and reviews from other users to know how reliable a host provider’s customer support is.
- Ease of use: Dedicated server isn’t beginner-friendly, even with fully managed hosting options. However, it doesn’t mean you need to be a techie user to use it. Most providers offer managed support and tools, including an easy-to-use control panel to make your workflow easier. You will also get more ease of use from a fully managed dedicated hosting solution.
- Features: Generally speaking, you want to look for security solutions, developer suites, cPanel licenses, SSL certification, RAM, and CPU. You might be interested in a free domain if you are just starting your website. Free managed web migration might be a dealbreaker if you are switching providers.
- Money-back guarantees: Most providers offer up to 30 days money back guarantees. You will get your money back if you cancel your hosting plan within 30 days. Read the fine print. Some providers offer refunds on their other plans but not for dedicated hosting.
- Performance and reliability: At HostAdvice, we will never sacrifice performance for pricing, and you shouldn’t either. Avoid providers with reliability concerns, even if they offer dirt-cheap hosting plans. We recommend you go for providers with an SLA-backed uptime guarantee. So when you experience extended downtime, the provider compensates you.
- Scaling potential: Websites grow in functionality and traffic as they get famous and valuable. So, you need a provider that will allow your website to grow. We always give more priority to providers that offer seamless scalability of hosting resources and upgrades to higher-tier plans.
- Speed: You need a provider to load your website in less than a second. We look for data center locations, CDN, and NVMe SSDs.
- Starting price: You may be surprised we are discussing pricing after other factors. We only review providers for pricing after we are satisfied that they pass other criteria. This approach ensures that we only recommend the best hosting providers.
- Types of hosting offered: Dedicated hosting comes in three types: managed, unmanaged, and semi-managed. Your ideal choice depends on your skill level, available time, and willingness to manage some or all aspects of your server.
- User reviews: Review experiences from users worldwide on our site to get a complete perspective on hosting providers before we add them to our list of recommendations.
- Other factors: We rate providers based on brand reputation, awards, and establishment date.
What is cheap dedicated server hosting?
The idea behind a dedicated server hosting plan is to get a single machine devoted to your hosting needs. You won’t be sharing resources with other websites or servers as you would with shared hosting. Neither would your server be a partition from a larger resource pool, as with cloud hosting and VPS servers.
A cheap dedicated server hosting solution allows you to enjoy a single machine’s resources without spending too much money. You can expect SSH and root access, greater bandwidth, support from expert sysadmins, excellent website performance, and robust control panel systems like cPanel or Plesk. Depending on the plan and provider, you could get RAID 1 redundant storage, DDoS protection, a high-performance CPU, and a large amount of disk space.
Things to remember when selecting cheap dedicated hosting
You are looking for cheap server hosting to save costs, but you don’t always have to go for the lowest number. You need to consider other factors to ensure you get the best deal. These factors include unmanaged and managed servers, pricing, and resources.
Unmanaged vs. semi-managed vs. managed Dedicated Hosting
The first question you need to ask yourself is whether you want managed, semi-managed, or unmanaged dedicated hosting.
- Managed Dedicated Hosting: The web host will be responsible for server management. Some providers advertise their plans as “fully-managed,” but it pays to go through the fine print to see what services they are offering. It could be a comprehensive list that includes server setup, software updates, backups, performance optimization, and troubleshooting. The added server management support puts this dedicated hosting in a higher pricing bracket. However, the price is worth it if you prefer to devote your time, resources, and staffing to other business-focused aspects. It is also the best choice if you don’t have the know-how or technical skills to run your website on your own.
- Semi-managed Dedicated Hosting: With this type of dedicated hosting, the provider will handle basic server tasks such as security configuration, operating system updates, and troubleshooting hardware and software failures. Every other task is left for you to handle. The upside is that you have considerable freedom in configuring and managing your server, and it is cheaper than a fully managed hosting plan.
- Unmanaged dedicated Hosting: If you go for this type of hosting, be prepared to assume full responsibility for your server. You have complete control over your server configuration, maintenance, security and performance enhancement, operating system updates, and optimization. The provider only has to provide the infrastructure and hardware. Some web hosts advertise it as bare metal dedicated hosting. It is cheaper than other types of dedicated hosting, but it places the most responsibility on your shoulder. We only recommend it for advanced users with administration experience, who are looking for full-range customization, and those on a strict budget.
Pricing
Virtually all providers offer you a lower price if you subscribe for a longer term. The cost saving usually starts on the yearly contract and gets better than when you go for a two or three-year contract.
A year-long subscription is a commitment and going more extended ties you to the provider for a long time. However, you most likely need dedicated hosting for at least a few years, so signing up for a lengthy contract should not hurt.
If unsatisfied with the service delivery, you can ask for a refund. However, you should read the provider’s money-back guarantee terms. Most providers offer a 30-day grace period, after which you are no longer eligible for a refund.
Resources
You should ascertain the server resources your site will need and ensure your dedicated hosting plan provides for those needs. For special needs, you might need to get paid add-ons or request a customized hosting package from the provider. Here are some server resources to be on the lookout for:
- CPU Cores: The more cores your server has, the more powerful it becomes. If you want your server to handle heavier tasks and run faster, you need to get as many cores as possible. You’ll need about 4-8 cores to run heavy and specialized applications—however, the higher your cores, the higher your monthly fees.
- RAM: RAM allocation will determine the server’s efficiency and affect your site’s loading speed. Most providers offer 4GB-8GB RAM on their entry plans which is sufficient for most users. However, if you are running a resource-intensive website, you will need more RAM. For instance, you need more than 32 GB of RAM to run mission-critical applications based on resource-intensive frameworks.
- Storage: The more storage you have, the better. We generally recommend 1 TB or more for storage. However, most websites can get by with 256GB or 512GB storage space. You should also consider the type of storage. The provider could offer a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). Both will get the job done, but SSD offers faster and more reliable performance, albeit at a higher cost.
- Bandwidth: As with other resources, more is better. You’ll need more bandwidth if your website runs scripts, houses HD photos, streams multimedia content, or has high traffic volume. Insufficient bandwidth can cause a bad user experience, high bounce rates, crashes, and loss of revenue.
In summary, when choosing a cheap dedicated hosting plan, you should consider your skills, budget, and resources before deciding.