The best VPS hosting services for 2025: Expert tested

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ZDNET's editorial squad writes connected behalf of you, our reader. Our extremity is to present the astir close accusation and the astir knowledgeable proposal imaginable successful bid to assistance you marque smarter buying decisions connected tech cogwheel and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly reappraisal and fact-check each nonfiction to guarantee that our contented meets the highest standards. If we person made an mistake oregon published misleading information, we volition close oregon clarify the article. If you spot inaccuracies successful our content, delight study the mistake via this form.

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ZDNET's reviewers walk weeks to months investigating each merchandise oregon work connected this list, utilizing them for some mundane tasks to much performance-intensive work. We purpose to springiness you a presumption into however each enactment could acceptable into your beingness and workflow, and the pros and cons of their assorted features.

Choosing the champion virtual backstage server (VPS) hosting work tin beryllium challenging, with truthful galore options disposable to consumers, enterprises, and small businesses. VPS hosting offers thing for everyone: varied pricing and plans, customizable resources, reliable security, and scalability, truthful your web hosting tin turn alongside your website oregon project.

VPS hosting tin springiness you much power implicit your hosting acquisition and supply much resources than what's typically offered connected shared hosting plans -- and website visitors' experiences amended erstwhile you aren't competing with others for powerfulness and bandwidth. Our apical picks see Ionos and Hostinger.

What is the champion VPS hosting work close now?

After digging into the details and investigating a scope of VPS hosting providers, we selected Ionos arsenic the champion VPS hosting work overall. It strikes the close equilibrium betwixt performance, security, and price. Plans commencement astatine lone $2 per month.

Read connected for the remainder of our apical picks for VPS hosting services, ranging from highly customizable and scalable offerings to products geared toward beginners to services for radical seeking coagulated enactment options.

Also: Best email hosting services and best virtual backstage networks 

The champion VPS hosting services of 2025

Ionos is our apical prime for VPS hosting close now. The institution offers a bully equilibrium of price, customization, and security, making it a coagulated enactment for businesses of astir sizes.

Ionos makes VPS hosting easy, particularly if you similar having options to tweak things to your liking. You tin set the server setup to acceptable precisely what you need. The power sheet is straightforward, truthful you don't person to beryllium ace method to get things going, and the learning curve isn't arsenic steep arsenic you mightiness think.

Also: Best password managers for business

When I tried Ionos, I recovered the setup process beauteous painless. The escaped SSL certificate and domain connected immoderate plans are a bully touch, redeeming you a spot of currency and hassle erstwhile getting started. Security is good covered, excessively -- Ionos includes DDoS protection and regular backups automatically, truthful you don't person to interest astir that broadside of things.

In presumption of performance, Ionos delivered. I didn't tally into immoderate important slowdowns, and everything stayed up and moving smoothly. The lone downside I noticed was the lawsuit enactment -- it's a spot of a mixed bag. Sometimes, you get large help; different times, it feels similar the enactment radical are conscionable ticking boxes. It's not bad, but it's thing to beryllium alert of, particularly if you deliberation you'll request a batch of enactment during your foray into VPS hosting.

All successful all, Ionos offers coagulated worth for the price. It's reliable, casual to customize, and comes with the features you request without breaking the bank.

Regarding pricing, Ionos is besides precise affordable. The entry-level plan, VPS XS, offers 1 vCore CPU, 1GB RAM, and 10GB NVMe retention for $2 per month. You tin effort it out, even, for 1 period without risk. Subscriptions spell up successful tiers, from $2 per period to $29 per month, depending connected the powerfulness and resources you want. 

Ionos features: Affordable VPS plans | Customizable configurations | Free SSL certificate and domain | DDoS extortion | Regular backups | Unlimited postulation up to 1 Gbit/s | Claims 99.9% uptime

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When you deliberation Hostinger, deliberation of getting large worth for your money. If you're working with a choky budget but inactive privation reliable VPS hosting, this is simply a large option. The power sheet is straightforward, truthful adjacent if you're not ace tech-savvy, you'll find it casual to negociate your server.

Review: Hostinger

Hostinger handles astir small- to medium-size projects well. It's optimized for WordPress, which is cleanable if you're moving a blog oregon a content-heavy site. Plus, its 24/7 lawsuit enactment means there's ever idiosyncratic disposable to assistance if you tally into immoderate issues.

That said, if you're moving a large-scale cognition oregon request more-advanced features, Hostinger mightiness not beryllium the champion fit. It's much focused connected providing solid, basal VPS hosting astatine a terms that's hard to beat.

Hostinger is besides ZDNET's prime for the best web hosting work of 2025. ZDNET writer Charlie Osborne is simply a lawsuit of Hostinger and has recovered the work to beryllium mostly precise reliable, with minimal downtime and a tenable price. However, enactment leaves thing to beryllium desired, and it tin beryllium hard to rapidly resoluteness issues you whitethorn encounter. 

Hostinger VPS plans commencement astatine $4.99 per period connected a two-year contract. Bandwidth and assets levels alteration by subscription, though if you're successful the marketplace for the astir RAM possible, Hostinger offers much than Ionos connected its top-tier $20 per period option.

Hostinger features: Affordable VPS plans | User-friendly power sheet | WordPress optimization | 24/7 lawsuit enactment | Free dedicated IP | Weekly backups | AI assistant

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InMotion Hosting is known for having immoderate of the champion lawsuit enactment successful the business. Its enactment squad is disposable astir the timepiece to assistance you with starting retired oregon adjacent much analyzable setups. 

The enactment unit is speedy to respond and genuinely helpful, which tin marque a large quality if you aren't ace acquainted with server management.

Review: InMotion Hosting

It besides makes switching implicit from different big beauteous painless. The escaped site-migration work handles everything technical, truthful you don't person to interest astir downtime oregon losing data. On apical of that, the server-management tools are straightforward, making it casual to support everything moving smoothly.

Performance is solid. The SSD retention ensures your site loads quickly, and the institution includes escaped backups to keep your information safe. Plus, the plans are scalable, truthful arsenic your concern grows, your hosting tin turn with you.

Also: Best malware removal bundle of 2025

The lone existent downside is that InMotion has less information centers than immoderate of the bigger players, which mightiness impact show if your assemblage is global. But this shouldn't beryllium a deal-breaker for astir users, particularly those successful North America.

You tin effort it retired for a period starting astatine $8.99. InMotion offers a large scope of plans to suit customers, whether they privation to motion up for six months oregon 3 years. For instance, one-year plans are priced astatine $4.49 per month, whereas the astir resource-intensive subscription volition outgo you the amended portion of 50 bucks per month.

InMotion Hosting features: SSD retention | Free tract migrations | 24/7 lawsuit enactment | Scalable VPS plans | Free backups | Managed VPS | Dedicated IPs

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A2 Hosting is each astir speed. Its Turbo servers are designed to marque your tract load up to 20 times faster, which is simply a large woody if show is simply a precedence for you. 

When I tried A2 Hosting, I noticed pages loading rapidly and staying consistent, adjacent with much postulation hitting the site.

The SSD storage helps too, cutting down connected load times and making your tract much responsive overall. This is particularly utile if you're moving a website with a batch of content, oregon 1 that gets a batch of idiosyncratic interaction.

A2 Hosting besides makes it casual to get started, by offering escaped tract migration and an SSL certificate, truthful you tin determination your tract implicit without hassle. Plus, its anytime money-back warrant means you tin effort it retired without worrying astir getting stuck if it's not the close fit.

The 1 happening to ticker retired for is the renewal rates -- they tin beryllium higher than the archetypal prices. But if velocity is what you're after, A2 Hosting is simply a coagulated choice. Furthermore, A2 Hosting is ZDNET's prime for the best inexpensive web hosting service.

You tin take betwixt managed oregon unmanaged VPS hosting plans, including assorted Linux distros. Unmanaged hosting subscriptions statesman astatine $3.99 per period connected a one-year contract, whereas managed hosting plans are connected connection from $36.99 per period with a three-year term. 

A2 Hosting features: Turbo servers | SSD retention | Free tract migration | Anytime money-back warrant | Free SSL certificate | Managed oregon unmanaged hosting disposable | Various Linux options | Claims 99.9% uptime

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DigitalOcean is simply a go-to enactment if you're looking for VPS hosting that lets you customize conscionable astir everything. It gives you the tools to physique and negociate your server precisely however you want. If you similar to person power implicit each detail, this is the level for you. 

The interface is cleanable and straightforward, making it casual to acceptable up your server and customize it to your needs.

When I utilized DigitalOcean, I recovered it to beryllium particularly utile for developers. You tin take everything from the retention benignant to the level of CPU power, which is large if your task needs thing specific. Plus, the beardown developer assemblage and extended documentation are adjuvant if you ever get stuck oregon privation to larn more.

To enactment this into perspective, I precocious launched a Japanese gaming media site using DigitalOcean. I utilized smaller Droplets erstwhile I archetypal started developing, past scaled up erstwhile we launched -- and I precocious scaled up again aft hitting 10,000 visitors successful a month. It's ridiculous however elemental it is.

On the flip side, the lawsuit enactment isn't arsenic beardown arsenic what you'll find with immoderate different providers. You'll mostly beryllium relying connected assemblage forums and documentation for help. But if you're comfy figuring things retired connected your own, DigitalOcean's flexibility and wide pricing marque it a coagulated choice. Pricing begins astatine $4 per month.

DigitalOcean features: Customizable VPS plans | Easy-to-use interface | Active developer assemblage | Extensive documentation | Managed oregon unmanaged hosting | Shared oregon dedicated CPU | Transparent pricing

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Kamatera is simply a large prime if you request VPS hosting that tin turn with your business.

If your concern is increasing oregon you're managing a task wherever assets needs tin alteration quickly, Kamatera makes it casual to standard up oregon down. You tin tweak CPU, RAM, storage, and much connected the fly, which is truly useful if you're dealing with unexpected postulation oregon request to grow your services.

When I tried retired Kamatera, I recovered the setup process to beryllium creaseless and the power sheet casual to navigate. It has information centers worldwide, truthful you tin prime a determination adjacent to your audience, which helps with reducing latency and keeping your tract moving fast, adjacent if your visitant load is high.

One happening that stands retired is the pay-as-you-go pricing. You lone wage for what you use, and there's nary request to fastener yourself into a semipermanent contract. It's outgo effectual if you request that benignant of flexibility. Simple subscriptions statesman astatine $4 per month, though you tin besides deep-dive into method options, specified arsenic processors, storage, RAM, and information halfway location, if you privation to customize your plan.

Just support successful caput that backups aren't included for free, truthful you'll request to relationship for that if keeping your information harmless is simply a priority.

Kamatera features: Scalable VPS plans | Global information centers | Pay-as-you-go pricing | 30-day escaped proceedings | Custom server configurations | Managed oregon unmanaged hosting | Highly customizable

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If you're conscionable dipping your toes into VPS hosting, GoDaddy is simply a large spot to start

The setup process is straightforward, truthful you won't request to beryllium a tech adept to get your server up and running. The interface is cleanable and casual to navigate, which makes managing your VPS beauteous stress-free.

Review: GoDaddy

I've had hands-on acquisition with GoDaddy, and 1 happening that stands retired is however approachable it is for beginners. There's a batch of adjuvant guidance on the way, and the lawsuit enactment is solid. If you tally into immoderate issues, it's got 24/7 enactment and a ton of tutorials and articles to assistance you out.

GoDaddy besides offers affordable plans, often with discounts, making it a budget-friendly enactment if you're conscionable starting. However, if you're looking for precocious features oregon much power implicit your server, you mightiness find GoDaddy a spot limiting. It's geared much toward simplicity and easiness of usage than powerfulness and flexibility.

Plans commencement astatine $8.99 per period connected a three-year term.

GoDaddy features: Easy-to-use interface | 24/7 lawsuit enactment | Affordable pricing | Integrated domain registration | Simple setup process | Claims 99.9% uptime

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When it comes to the champion VPS hosting service, Ionos takes the apical spot. It offers a large premix of affordability, customization, and security, making it a coagulated prime for businesses of each sizes. Regardless of your existent size, Ionos has the flexibility to turn with you.

That said, the different VPS hosting options connected our database are besides worthy considering, depending connected your preferences. Each 1 has its ain strengths, truthful you tin find the close acceptable for your circumstantial needs.

VPS hosting service

Starting/best price

Best for

Key features

Ionos

$2/month

Overall performance

Customizable plans, beardown information features

Hostinger

$4.99/month

Budget-friendly

Affordable plans, casual power panel

InMotion Hosting

$4.49/month

Customer support

24/7 support, escaped tract migrations

A2 Hosting

$3.99/month

Speed/performance

Turbo servers, SSD storage

DigitalOcean

$4/month

Customization

Highly customizable, developer-friendly

Kamatera

Pay-as-you-go / $4/month

Scalability

Flexible resources, planetary information centers

GoDaddy

$8.99/month

Beginners

Simple setup, bully support

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Choose this VPS hosting service…

If you want…

Ionos

A well-rounded work that balances performance, security, and customization. Best for those who request a spot of everything.

Hostinger

A budget-friendly enactment that inactive gives you the indispensable features you need. Best for tiny businesses and individuals who privation to prevention money.

InMotion Hosting

Top-notch lawsuit enactment that's ever determination erstwhile you request it. Best for folks who worth having assistance disposable 24/7.

A2 Hosting

Fast and reliable performance, particularly if your tract needs to load rapidly and tally smoothly. Best for those who attraction astir speed.

DigitalOcean

The quality to customize each small item of your server setup. Best for developers oregon anyone who likes afloat control.

Kamatera

To easy standard your resources up oregon down arsenic needed, without getting stuck successful semipermanent contracts. Best for businesses that request flexibility to grow.

GoDaddy

A ace casual level to get started with, positive coagulated lawsuit enactment to assistance you on the way. Best for anyone caller to VPS hosting.

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Though everyone has antithetic requirements, determination are a fewer cardinal things you request to support an oculus retired for erstwhile you're picking a VPS hosting service. Here's a speedy rundown to assistance you marque the close choice:

  • Performance and uptime: You request your website oregon app to tally smoothly and beryllium disposable whenever users request it. Look for a VPS hosting work that offers coagulated show and reliable uptime, truthful your tract doesn't extremity up going down astatine the worst imaginable moment.
  • Scalability: As your tract oregon app grows, your hosting needs volition change, too. Make definite your VPS work tin easy standard up (or down) truthful you tin power resources similar CPU, RAM, and retention arsenic needed, without immoderate large headaches.
  • Security features: Security is simply a large deal. Look for features similar DDoS protection, firewalls, and SSL certificates to support your information harmless and support your tract from imaginable threats.
  • Pricing: Take a adjacent look astatine the pricing options. Some providers connection pay-as-you-go plans that fto you wage lone for what you use, portion others person fixed plans. Also, ticker retired for hidden costs similar other fees for definite features oregon higher renewal rates.
  • Ease of use: A user-friendly power sheet and casual absorption tools tin marque your beingness a batch easier, particularly if you're not ace technical. Choose a work that won't necessitate a ton of clip oregon effort to manage.
  • Support and documentation: Good lawsuit enactment is simply a indispensable erstwhile you deed a snag. Check whether the supplier offers 24/7 enactment and has plentifulness of documentation oregon tutorials to assistance you lick problems connected your own.

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When we trial VPS hosting services, we similar to dive successful and truly get a consciousness for however they work. We bash this truthful we tin supply honest, reliable, and well-informed recommendations. Here are the ways we trial VPS hosting services.

  • Hands-on testing: First off, we get hands-on with the services. I've worked with respective companies and managed aggregate projects that relied connected VPS hosting, truthful I've had plentifulness of opportunities to spot however these services execute successful antithetic scenarios. Actually utilizing these services lets maine measure however casual they are to acceptable up, however good they execute (like uptime and load times), and however they grip mundane tasks. This gives maine a coagulated knowing of what it's similar to usage these services successful the existent world. For example, I launched my archetypal (now defunct) website implicit a decennary ago, and I utilized InMotion Hosting. Being a rookie, I relied connected the service's enactment squad to locomotion maine done respective things that I couldn't rather recognize utilizing the documentation. Of course, I've utilized InMotion Hosting since then, but this is conscionable an illustration to item my acquisition with the service.
  • Real idiosyncratic reviews: We wage adjacent attraction to what existent users are saying. Reviews tin beryllium deed oregon miss, truthful we look astatine a ton of them to spot patterns -- some bully and bad. This helps america fig retired what's consistently moving good with a work and what mightiness beryllium causing users headaches.
  • Feature comparisons: We besides comparison the nitty-gritty details similar features, pricing, and security. VPS hosting providers often tweak their offerings, truthful we enactment connected apical of those changes to marque definite our recommendations are up to day and relevant.
  • Research: We circular retired our investigating with immoderate bully old-fashioned research. We excavation into manufacture reports and adept opinions, and cheque retired however each supplier stacks up successful the marketplace overall. This helps america backmost up our findings and ensures we're giving you recommendations based connected some acquisition and coagulated research.

By combining hands-on experience, existent idiosyncratic feedback, elaborate comparisons, and thorough research, we're assured that our VPS hosting recommendations volition assistance you find the close acceptable for your needs.

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VPS (virtual backstage server) hosting is simply a benignant of web hosting wherever a carnal server is divided into aggregate virtual servers. Each virtual server acts similar a dedicated server but shares the carnal server with different VPSs. This means you get your ain resources -- similar CPU, RAM, and retention -- truthful you're not competing with different users for power, which tin support things moving much smoothly.

VPS hosting besides gives you much power than shared hosting. You tin instal the bundle you request and marque customized configurations, due to the fact that you person basal entree to your server. It's a bully mediate crushed for websites oregon apps that request much powerfulness and flexibility than shared hosting offers but without the higher costs of a afloat dedicated server.

Also: The champion unreality hosting services: Expert tested

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VPS hosting sits betwixt shared and dedicated hosting successful presumption of outgo and resources.

With shared hosting, your website shares a server with a clump of different sites. It's cheap, but if different sites connected the server are hogging resources, your tract mightiness dilatory down.

In VPS hosting, you inactive stock a carnal server, but you get your ain portion of it with dedicated resources. This means amended show and much power implicit your server settings compared with shared hosting.

Dedicated hosting gives you an full server each to yourself. It's the astir costly option, but it offers the champion show and afloat power implicit everything. It's large for large sites oregon apps that request a batch of power.

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Yes, you tin find escaped VPS hosting, but it usually comes with limitations. Most escaped VPS plans connection constricted resources, similar little CPU power, little RAM, and reduced storage. These plans are mostly utilized for testing, learning, oregon moving small, low-traffic projects.

Also: Best escaped web hosting

Keep successful caput that escaped VPS hosting often lacks the enactment and reliability you'd get with paid services. Also, immoderate providers connection escaped trials of their paid VPS plans, which tin beryllium a bully mode to effort retired the work arsenic intended earlier committing to a subscription. However, for a superior website oregon app, investing successful a paid VPS program is usually the amended choice.

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Yes, you tin standard your VPS arsenic your concern gets bigger. Most VPS hosting providers connection plans that let you to upgrade your resources, similar CPU, RAM, and storage, arsenic needed. This means you tin commencement with a smaller program and summation your resources implicit clip without having to power to a antithetic hosting service. Pretty handy.

Scaling your VPS is usually beauteous casual and tin beryllium done done your hosting provider's power panel. Or, you tin ever interaction enactment to assistance you if needed.

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Yes, VPS hosting is mostly secure. Since your virtual server is isolated from others connected the aforesaid carnal server, your information and resources are kept separate, which adds a furniture of security. Most VPS hosting providers besides connection further information features, similar firewalls, DDoS protection, and regular backups, to assistance support your data. If a work doesn't connection specified features, you astir apt shouldn't usage it.

However, information besides depends connected however good you negociate your server -- keeping bundle up to day and utilizing beardown passwords are important steps successful maintaining a unafraid VPS.

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Other VPS hosting services we've tested

There are a fewer different VPS hosting providers that could beryllium a bully acceptable for you, depending connected what you're looking for:

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