9 Best VPS Hosting Services

VPS hosting is an upgrade from shared hosting. With a shared hosting plan, your website lives on a server with many other websites. It’s an effective solution for small and new websites that don’t require a lot of resources for files or high traffic. On a VPS plan, you still share space with others, but you aren’t sharing resources—you have your own RAM, storage and CPU power.

Your VPS is a virtual space with dedicated resources on a single physical server. That’s why you’ll see options for more CPU cores, RAM and storage. However, you’re still limited to the constraints of that physical server. If you need more than the highest plan offered by a VPS host, you may need to consider cloud hosting or a dedicated server.

When your site grows after years of content, ranking higher in search engines and more visitors, you may need to move up to a VPS. If shared hosting is like living in a commune where you share food and space, a VPS is like having your own home in a neighborhood (and you don’t have to share your food).

If you’re getting more resources via a VPS server, it stands to reason you get faster page loading and better performance. You also pay a higher price. Some of the benefits of a VPS server are less obvious, however:

• More control: Usually a VPS host gives you root access and choice of control panel, so you can manage your server and its security.
• Fully managed option: If having control doesn’t appeal to you, there’s fully managed VPS hosting, which is a lot like shared hosting in that the web host takes care of updates and security for you.
• More stability: You’re sharing server space with fewer people, so you’re less likely to see your site down or lag.
• Better performance: Although there’s no guarantee that you’ll get faster page load speed by using a VPS, your increased resources and a dedicated slice of processing power should make a big difference compared to shared hosting (look for a content delivery network, or CDN, option, too).
• More scalable: Starting off your site on a VPS gives it far more room to grow; specifically to handle bigger spikes in traffic. On a shared server, you may use up your resources too quickly and be asked to upgrade anyway.

The best VPS host for you will depend on your unique hosting needs and budget. For example, if you need to host a large amount of data, then you will want to look at hosting plans that offer generous amounts of storage at a solid value. But if site performance is a top priority, you might want to invest in premium plans that offer dedicated CPU cores and RAM.

Essential VPS Host Features

Consider the features you need to effectively run your site or sites. The best VPS hosting providers offer a lot of choice:

• Root access: Gives you direct control over your slice of the server.
• Dedicated support: Get answers to questions quickly (and usually 24/7).
• Choice of control panel: Use cPanel, Plesk or a proprietary control panel.
• Site migration: Have your host move your existing site over to your new virtual server (free or at added cost).
• Enhanced security: Get protection from malware and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Uptime and Downtime Rates

Most hosting companies offer 99% or higher uptime promises and guarantees. You should expect your server to be down occasionally because web hosts need to update hardware and software. Generally, they have redundancies and backups so you don’t lose data and you don’t suffer too much downtime.

There’s a big difference between 99% uptime and 99.9% uptime. Here’s what the difference between uptime guarantees can look like in terms of minutes down:

99% uptime = ~14 minutes downtime per day (3 days, 14 hours per year)
99.5% uptime = ~7 minutes downtime per day (1 day, 19 hours per year)
99.9% uptime = ~1.5 minutes downtime per day (9.5 hours per year)

As you can see, even half a percent can make a huge difference in how much time servers are down. Keep in mind that an uptime guarantee simply guarantees that you won’t have more downtime than what’s expected. If you do, a web host usually gives you a prorated credit for the time your site or VPS was down.

Customer Support

Having 24/7 support from your web host is always important because you never know when you may need tech help. That help may not always be related to downtime either. If you’re new to managing your own server, you may have questions. Look for hosting providers that offer round-the-clock support for live chat and phone (or at least one or the other), email and knowledge bases.

Managed vs. Unmanaged VPS Hosting

Managed VPS hosting is a great option for anyone who considers themselves to be non-techy. If you’re moving from shared hosting to VPS for the first time, it’s a good idea to start with a managed VPS plan because you won’t have to do much. The hosting company’s tech team will take care of maintenance of your server, including security patches and updates.

Unmanaged hosting is ideal for developers who know their way around a server. You have root access and therefore complete control over your operating system, setup, control panel, security patches and updates to apps. Of course, this means you need to pay close attention to your server’s maintenance. Because of the hands-on nature, most unmanaged VPS plans are less expensive.

Do You Need a Dedicated Server?

A dedicated server is more expensive, but you get the entire server to yourself. It’s a bump up from a VPS because you don’t share resources with others. A dedicated server for your site results in faster loading speeds, more resources to handle more files or content and a flood of traffic.

Most small businesses won’t need a dedicated server right away, but there are a few caveats. One of the best ways to judge whether you need to upgrade to a dedicated server is to look at your traffic from your busiest days, such as Black Friday or other holiday sales days. If your site was sluggish on those days and you had spikes in traffic, it might be time to consider upgrading to a dedicated server.

In addition to having all the server’s resources to yourself, you’re likely to get dedicated support, complete control over your server’s configuration and there’s no threat of malware or spam bringing your server down from another user’s actions.

Most VPS hosting companies follow the same pricing structure: monthly or annual plans. Some offer three-month, six-month or multiple-year plan options. And the cost for VPS usually ranges from $10 to $75 per month at regular price; on the low end, you can find hosting plans for $2 per month or as high as $100 per month.

For the bargain-bin pricing, such as $2 per month, you typically pay upfront for an entire year or multiple years of service. Higher-priced options may be paid on a month-to-month basis and require no long-term contracts. And the low-tier or basic plans have low resources in common.

Basic plans limit your resources significantly, though you still get more than shared hosting users. You’re likely to see around 1GB of RAM and 10GB to 30GB of storage. Processing power is also fairly limited: It’s rare to see an entry-level plan offer more than one CPU core. If bandwidth is measured, you may get around 1TB before seeing your site slow.

Upgrading to an advanced plan gives you far more room to grow your site or sites. Top-tier plans can offer up to 16 CPU cores, upwards of 500GB of storage and 30GB of RAM. And the more you pay, the higher your transfer allowance goes, too—we’ve seen some as high as 32TB of bandwidth.

To save the most money on VPS hosting, choose an annual plan or pay for multiple years in advance. You can start with a low-tier plan and upgrade as needed, but the benefit of paying a lot now is that you typically save 25% to 50% (and even more sometimes) off the regular price.

As you shop for the best VPS hosting service, you may come across other types of hosting and wonder if they might be better. In some cases, they may be; it depends on your needs, budget and tech stack (and tech skill).

In addition to VPS, these are some common hosting types you may want to consider:

• Shared hosting: If you’re just starting out with a new site or brand, shared hosting may be your best option. It’s affordable and usually fully managed, so it’s a hands-off option. However, it can be slower and less secure.
• Cloud hosting: Similar to VPS hosting, cloud hosting is a good solution for businesses with sites that get a lot of traffic and need extra resources, but there’s an added benefit to cloud hosting. Your sites are hosted on multiple remote servers, so you should have increased uptime. Plus, many cloud hosting providers let you add resources as you need them.
• Dedicated hosting: A dedicated server is the most expensive option, but it’s also the most stable and secure and offers the most resources. It’s the best pick for large businesses with tons of regular traffic and big spikes during sales days.
• Reseller hosting: If you run an online agency for website design, it might be worth looking into reseller hosting so you can offer clients a full package that includes hosting. You pay wholesale rates for hosting and then essentially sell a white-labeled hosting plan to your clients at whatever rate you want to set.