VPS for Gaming Hosting Providers Feature Overview
Provider | Starting Price | Storage (GB) | CPU (Cores) | RAM (GB) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$2.50 | 50-750 | 2-12 | 2-64 | Visit Ultahost | |
$2.38 | 15-500 | 2-64 | 1-30 | Visit Webdock | |
$4.49 | 50-400 | 1-8 | 4-32 | Visit Hostinger | |
$4.00 | 20-4000 | 1-32 | 1-128 | Visit Kamatera | |
$2.00 | 10-640 | 1-12 | 1-24 | Visit IONOS |
What Is VPS for Gaming?
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) for Gaming is a hosting solution that lets you run your own game server. With a VPS for Gaming, you can install specific software such as modding tools and game management panels. You can also configure settings to enhance gameplay and choose your operating system.
This flexibility lets you set up the server to fit your gaming needs perfectly.
When to Choose and When to Avoid a VPS for Gaming
Reasons to Use a VPS for Gaming | Reasons Not to Use a VPS for Gaming |
You want to easily scale resources up or down based on gaming needs. | You can’t afford the higher cost of a VPS. |
You need dedicated resources to ensure smooth gameplay and low latency. | If your internet connection is unstable or slow. |
To create games that won’t experience dropped connections. | Latency issues from the VPS provider’s location and network quality can impact gameplay. |
You need root access to set up, manage, and customize your game server | You prefer dedicated hosting, which has more resources and features. |
To create mods and other similar things without the game publisher. | When hosting large-scale, resource-intensive games that require more power than a VPS can provide. |
To have more privacy and control over your games. |
If a VPS is not relevant to your gaming needs, consider these alternatives:
- Dedicated Servers—Suitable for large gaming communities with high traffic and resource demands. It offers full control and exclusive use of server resources.
- Cloud Hosting—Great for gaming with fluctuating traffic, offering scalability and flexibility by streaming games from powerful remote servers and eliminating the need for local hardware.
- Palworld Server Hosting—Allows you to create a personalized gaming environment with greater control over game settings, player slots, and performance features.
- Minecraft Hosting—Allows players to create a customized Minecraft world where multiple players can join, collaborate, and play together.
How To Choose The Best VPS for Gaming
Here are some things to think about when choosing the right VPS for gaming:
- Full root access—Allows you to install and configure any software or game server settings you need.
- Enough Storage and Memory—If you host a game of 50-100 players, you need at least 240GB of storage and 32GB of RAM. However, most gamers believe 1TB of storage is the safest bet.
- A Fast Processor—A CPU with four cores, eight threads, and a 3.80GHZ clock speed is a great choice for a gaming server.
- Server Location—You must always have a strong Internet connection. Choose a VPS provider with data centers close to your player base to minimize latency.
Reliable Support—Choose a provider with 24/7 customer support to assist with any technical issues.
The Best VPS for Gaming of 2024 (Bought and Tested):
Are you a gamer that’s looking for a reliable provider that is easy to use, simple to navigate, and can deliver fast speeds? Look no further than UltaHost! Not only is this provider renowned for its user-friendliness, but it also lets you choose from multiple operating systems, programming languages, control panels, and server locations, ensuring that you get blazing-fast speeds and a hosting environment tailored to your needs no matter where you are.
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Performance: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendly: 4.9
Pricing: UltaHost’s VPS for gaming plan starts at $5.50 per month. You can choose between getting a monthly or yearly plan. The entry-level plan includes 1 CPU Core, 1GB RAM, 30GB NVMe SSD, 1 IPv4 dedicated IP, a managed server, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Features: UltaHost provides many free and paid features, including SSD NVMe storage, a free SSL certificate, BitNinja security, SSH & SFTP access, unlimited bandwidth, free daily backups, dedicated firewalls, 24/7 real-time monitoring, CDN add-on, unlimited app installations, DDR4 RAM, a wide range of operating systems and control panels, and more.
Performance: UltaHost provides a 99.99% uptime guarantee across all plans. Additionally, it maintains data centers in 12 global locations, including the US, Canada, Germany, Finland, Tukey, India, South Korea, and Singapore. Also, each UltaHost server uses the latest Intel Xeon processors and RAID10 SSD storage.
Support: UltaHost provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, email, and a ticketing system. It also maintains a comprehensive knowledge base filled with many helpful video tutorials and guides across various categories.
User Friendly: UltaHost goes the extra mile in this category. Namely, the provider allows you to choose from multiple different control panels, including the free Hestia and CyberPanel control panels and the paid Plesk and cPanel. Additionally, you can select the operating system you prefer.
Pros and Cons:
- A 99.99% uptime guarantee
- A wide range of operating systems and control panels to choose from
- 12 top-grade data centers worldwide
- Built-in security features
- No hidden fees
- An intuitive user interface and expert 24/7 customer support
- No unlimited storage option
Rating Based on Expert Review:
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Features: 4.7
- Reliability: 4.6
- User-Friendly: 4.5
- Support: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.4
Webdock’s VPS for gaming offers high-performance solutions tailored to provide optimal gaming experiences with minimal latency. Ideal for gamers seeking robust and reliable server options, this service ensures smooth gameplay and efficient server management.
Detailed Analysis:
Features: Webdock’s VPS for gaming is equipped with high-speed SSD storage, dedicated resources, and powerful CPUs. These features enhance game performance, reduce lag, and provide a responsive gaming environment.
Reliability: The service boasts strong reliability with consistent uptime and high availability. Webdock’s infrastructure ensures stable performance, essential for uninterrupted gaming sessions.
User-Friendly: The management interface is intuitive, allowing users to easily set up and manage their gaming servers. The control panel is designed to be accessible to gamers of all skill levels.
Support: Webdock offers exceptional customer support, available around the clock. Gamers can rely on prompt assistance and expert advice to resolve any issues swiftly.
Pricing: The pricing is competitive and reflects the high performance and reliability of the service. Webdock provides a cost-effective solution for gamers seeking quality VPS hosting without breaking the bank.
Pros and Cons:
- High-speed SSD storage and dedicated resources enhance gaming performance
- Reliable service with minimal downtime
- Intuitive and user-friendly management interface
- Excellent 24/7 customer support
- May not offer as many gaming-specific features as some specialized providers
- Pricing might be higher compared to basic VPS options without gaming optimizations
With Hostinger, you will get the overall best VPS for game servers. It offers excellent VPS hosting plans and specialized Minecraft Server hosting plans.
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Performance: 4.6
- Security: 4.7
- Support: 4.7
- Features: 4.6
- Pricing: 4.6
Hostinger offers simple, fast, and reliable VPS hosting plans that you can use to host your game server. It also allows users to have full root access to their servers, customize them as much as they want, and track all their resources in real-time.
Research Findings:
Performance: a 99.9% uptime, 100 Mb/s Network, the latest Intel Xeon processors, NVMe SSD storage, CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, and Suse operating systems, scalable resources, data centers in Lithuania, Singapore, the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands, and more!
Security: dedicated IP addresses, IPv4 & IPv6 support, manual live server snapshots, automated backups, the ability to restore your website within minutes, BitNinja full-stack server protection, built-in advanced DDoS protection, and more!
Support: 24/7/365 support via live chat, email support, an extensive knowledge base, tutorials, blogs, and Hostinger Academy.
Features: Hostinger offers Network File System (NFS) support, a user-friendly control panel, a 30-day money-back guarantee, WordPress acceleration, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 250GB SSD storage, up to 12TB of bandwidth, and more!
Pricing: Hostinger offers eight VPS hosting plans that you can use for your game servers, starting at $1.99/month for one vCPU Core, 1GB RAM, 20GB SSD storage, and 1TB bandwidth.
Pros and Cons:
- Excellent prices that offer great value for money;
- Multiple data centers in three continents;
- It does not offer unlimited storage (but still provides enough for running a game server);
Kamatera is a global cloud service provider that has been around since 1995. It has expertly used its two-decade experience to create one of the best cloud platforms out there, providing enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure products to businesses of all types and sizes. As such, Kamatera is a perfect solution for anyone looking for a reliable VPS provider that will keep their gaming servers up and running at all times and provide them with fast speeds and excellent features at affordable prices.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
- Performance: 5.0
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendly: 4.9
Pricing: You can pay for Kamatera’s VPS services by the minute, hour, or month. Additionally, you only pay for the resources you use and can cancel your plan anytime. Its prices start at $0.005/hour or $4/month, which gets you one vCPU core, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD storage, 5000 GB monthly traffic, one public IP, and a 30-day free trial.
Features: Kamatera provides many free and paid features, including a no-single-point-of-failure infrastructure, backups, monitoring, a cloud load balancer, a cloud firewall, cloud block storage, unlimited storage, a proprietary API, root access, instant resource scaling, and many more.
Performance: Kamatera is known among customers for its reliable, fast, and stable performance, offering a 99.95% uptime guarantee across all plans. Additionally, it maintains a no-single-point-of-failure cloud infrastructure. The provider also has 18 top-notch data centers in America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, all of which use the latest SSD and Intel Xeon Platinum/Cascade Lake processors.
Support: The provider offers expert 24/7 customer support through live chat, phone, and email. You can also get fully managed VPS hosting and have Kamatera’s experts take care of everything for you.
User Friendly: Kamatera provides an instant setup process that will get your gaming server up and running in minutes. Additionally, it has an intuitive dashboard and control panel that is easy to use.
Pros and Cons:
- A 30-day free trial
- Pay-as-you-go pricing model
- A no-single-point-of-failure infrastructure
- 18 global data centers
- Highly-customizable and scalable plans
- It can be challenging for beginners
IONOS is the largest web hosting company in Europe, serving over 22 million domains. To do this, it uses cutting-edge technology to provide maximum performance across all services, including its VPS hosting, and deliver a highly-optimized environment to each user. Additionally, IONOS deploys each hosting plan from its sustainable, ISO-certified data centers, promising a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Also, each user gets full control of their VPS server, enabling them to customize it as much as they want.
- Overall Score: 3.9
- Pricing: 3.9
- Features: 3.5
- Performance: 4.3
- Support: 4.0
- User Friendly: 3.8
Pricing: The cheapest IONOS VPS hosting plan costs $2 per month, which you can pay for on a monthly or yearly basis. It includes 1 vCore CPU, 1 GB RAM, 10GB SSD storage, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Features: IONOS provides many free and paid features, including unlimited traffic, full virtualization, dedicated resources, NVMe storage, free Plesk Web Host Edition, an SSL certificate, server snapshots, DDoS protection, full root access, and Windows and Linux operating systems.
Performance: IONOS provides a 99.9% uptime guarantee across all services. Additionally, it maintains 1-10 geo-redundant data centers across the US, the UK, and Europe, which are all ISO-certified and PCI-DSS compliant.
Support: The provider offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, and cloud support. It also allows you to get your own personal consultant at an additional cost. Moreover, IONOS has a comprehensive help center with a plethora of helpful solutions.
User Friendly: IONOS has its own cloud control panel, which is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Additionally, it has a special “Deploy Now” feature that enables users to launch their sites in three simple steps.
Pros and Cons:
- Multiple ISO-certified and PCI-DSS-compliant data centers
- A 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Full root access
- Unlimited traffic
- It has some hidden fees
Why Trust Our Recommendations
At HostAdvice, we prioritize trust and transparency. We combine our VPS knowledge with real user feedback to provide reliable recommendations. Our goal is to guide you to the best VPS hosting options that suit your needs. Below, you’ll find details on our ranking methods.
How Do We Test and Rank
When we rank the best hosting providers, we test specifically for each category. Our experts develop a list of relevant factors for each category, and they perform independent performance tests on every provider that qualifies in that specific category. We value transparency and reward companies that deliver on their promises. We also consider thousands of real, independent user reviews.
Read more about our rating system here.
Each factor we test is assigned a specific percentage of importance, indicating its importance for the category.
Should You Get Managed or Unmanaged VPS for Gaming
When deciding whether managed or unmanaged VPS hosting is best for you and your game server, you should take into account the following factors:
- Technical Assistance – if you lack advanced tech knowledge for setting up and maintaining a gaming server, consider a managed VPS. The provider will handle all technical tasks and monitor your server daily. Check out our Best Managed VPS page.
- Budget—If you’re on a tight budget, you should go for an unmanaged VPS plan. However, a managed VPS plan is more cost-effective than hiring extra IT staff to assist with setup and maintenance.
- Scalability – when choosing an unmanaged VPS, you must constantly monitor and scale your server. With a managed VPS, the provider will handle monitoring and advise on scaling resources.
- Customization – you will get full control and root access over your game server with an unmanaged VPS plan. Thus, you will be able to customize your server as much as you want without your provider interfering.
Best VPS for Gaming Services: Summary
A VPS is an excellent fit for any gaming server. It offers scalable resources, excellent performance, and full root access, which allows users to customize their games as much as they want.
You can host various games with a VPS and experience little to no lag. Also, you can use VPS for Gaming to create mods, host matches, and many other gaming-related things!