The Best Dedicated Server Hosting in 2023
Updated: September 12,2023
Hosting a website is like finding a place to live. On the lower end, you’re living in a dorm and sharing a bathroom with a dozen roommates – or you’re hosting your website on a shared server. In between, you can get VPS hosting, which is like renting a studio apartment. Being a landlord is like running a reseller hosting service, and, finally, you can rent a house with a garden and a pool and have it all to yourself – the real-life equivalent of the best dedicated server hosting.
Of course, moving your website to a dedicated server and building it back up makes total sense if it outgrows your current web hosting solution. However, this decision requires a degree of expertise in terms of hardware and support. But which web hosting company is the best fit? Who offers the best dedicated server rental deals? Follow our guide and find out.
Excellent
1. HostGator
Good
2. DreamHost
Good
3. A2 Hosting
Good
4. Bluehost
Good
5. Hostwinds
- Powerful servers
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Money-back guarantee
- Under $100/mo just for the introductory offer
All HostGator servers run on the Intel Xeon-D architecture, and paired with fast CPUs is equally fast RAM. Lots of it, too - up to 30 GB. But bandwidth is the main reason HostGator could be the best dedicated server hosting company out there: It’s unlimited for all dedicated servers. Add some speedy SSDs to that, and you’ve got yourself one fast and reliable dedicated server setup. You can choose between Linux (CentOS & Ubuntu) or Windows installations, both with root access.
HostGator’s server management approach is quite intriguing: You can choose between a fully managed and a semi-managed server. In other words, you can always count on a certain degree of support. Compared to other companies claiming to provide the best hosting for dedicated servers, HostGator truly offers the best of both worlds with minimal detriments.
There are two control panels available per OS - four in total. You can also have unlimited email and MySQL accounts, so you won’t run out even if you have a relatively large company. Security-wise, HostGator offers DDoS protection via Scrub Center. The network is fully redundant, with several bandwidth providers, and you can also set up automated backups. All plans come with 24/7 support and server monitoring tools.
HostGator is an affordable dedicated server hosting solution, for the most part. The Value Plan introductory offer costs under $100 a month. Semi-managed plans can save you a few dollars each month, although it’s not that significant a discount compared to higher tiers. On the other hand, a longer billing cycle will save you some very real money: If you choose to pay for 36 months in advance, you can get up to 50% off your price. Small businesses switching to dedicated servers can save thousands of dollars in the long run.
- Fully managed dedicated servers
- 100% uptime guarantee
- Rich toolkit
- Pricey
So, what kind of hardware can you expect? Intel Xeon servers are a given, and they can have either four or 12 cores capable of 24-thread processing. These servers entail up to 64 GB of RAM - more than enough for several high-framerate gaming servers or webshops with loads of traffic.
Like other popular dedicated server hosting providers, DreamHost offers both hard drives and SSDs, although the latter is only available as part of the Enhanced plans, along with 12-core CPUs. On the plus side, there aren’t any bandwidth caps, regardless of the dedicated hosting plan you choose. The company also guarantees 100% uptime and 24/7 tech support.
These are fully managed servers, but you’ll still have full shell and root access, and lots of great developer tools, all running on Ubuntu. Reselling is also an option, so you can go from dedicated server renting to a lucrative shared-hosting business. Other features include DDoS protection, IPv6 support, and server monitoring. All these tools are contained within DreamHost’s easy-to-use web app.
A bunch of hardware combinations means plenty of dedicated hosting plans to choose from. They’re separated into two main groups: One with 4-core CPUs and hard drives and one with 12-core Xeons, more storage, and optional SSDs. Unfortunately, none of the currently available plans cost under $100, so you’ll need to look elsewhere if this is not enough of a cheap dedicated server for you.
That being said, DreamHost has an excellent value proposition, considering that you can turn this investment into a profit. Annual subscriptions drive the price down, too. The only real gripe we have is limited SSD storage - 240 GB is nothing to write home about, even if it gets the job done. Nonetheless, DreamHost is a serious contender.
- High-end hardware
- Incredible RAM capacity
- Highly customizable
- Limited bandwidth
With A2 Hosting, you can either go with fully managed dedicated hosting or unmanaged hosting, pick and choose from several Intel and Intel Xeon processors that go up to 4.6 GHz and up to 10- or 8-cores worth of processing power, as well as several RAID setups. And that’s just the beginning with A2 Hosting’s best dedicated hosting plans!
Once you select a combo to start with, it’s time for customization: Memory upgrades, additional solid-state or hard drives, more IPs, and pre-installed applications are all at your disposal. A2 Hosting lets you customize it all and even offers beefy dual-Xeon servers.
A2 Hosting’s unmanaged servers are Linux-exclusive, but you can pick from several distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, and Debian. Each hosting plan comes with certain add-on limitations, so the site has a chart to help guide you through it all. However, absolute beginners won’t find this the best dedicated hosting provider, as the choices can get somewhat complicated.
What’s more, none of the plans support unlimited bandwidth, thereby defeating the purpose of getting a Linux server with terabytes of storage space. It’s a dedicated web hosting solution for sites that need plenty of storage without generating too much traffic, but this is still a major disadvantage.
A2 used to be a bargain hosting option, but now even its cheapest plans are well above the $100 mark. What’s more, the add-ons mentioned in this dedicated server hosting review can make the price stack up pretty quickly.
It’s very easy to get carried away - A2 Hosting is excellent, but it's not for the faint of heart (or wallet). This is a hosting solution aimed at professionals, so if you're looking for powerful servers, look no further than A2.
- Reliable servers
- Great management tools
- Money-back guarantee
- Basic offer
Some hosting providers scare away their customers with needlessly complicated dedicated hosting packages and hardware setups. Owners of Bluehost have instead created three dedicated hosting plans, based on how fast a CPU is and how much RAM you need: All servers include a 4-core CPU, with processing power ranging from 2.3 to 3.3 GHz.
Compared to the offers from other top dedicated server hosting providers, this might not sound that enticing. However, Bluehost aims its services primarily at newbies and people that want hassle-free hosting. The plans cannot be further customized either, but they are nonetheless a good value proposition.
Every hosting plan entails one free domain name for a whole year, a free SSL certificate, and root access. These are unmanaged Linux servers, so experienced users will welcome the free rein. A custom-made control panel lets you quickly manage your databases and log files, as well as any other features, like VPS hosting or additional cheap dedicated servers.
If you opt for one of its solutions, you can rest assured that Bluehost will take your security very seriously. You can opt for SiteLock protection against malware for your websites, while a different tool guards them against identity theft and copycats. Bluehost also offers SEO tools and Codeguard as paid add-ons during checkout.
Price-savvy server managers should look into this company, as it offers a very affordable variety of plans, even with premium add-ons included. Even its best dedicated hosting plan won’t run you much more than $100 a month, especially if you sign up for a 36-month billing cycle. No other hosting provider can offer such a good deal on dedicated servers. Its renewal rates truly make for cheap dedicated server hosting.
- Fair hardware pricing
- Great storage options
- Highly customizable servers
- Overpriced bandwidth
As always, we’ll start with the hardware once-over. Instead of coming up with mysterious plan names, Hostwinds lets you choose your CPU right off the bat and bases the rest of the plan around that. Pick the exact model, frequency, and the number of cores the selected CPU runs with.
It also offers tons of storage space and up to 96 GB of RAM, which is why it could be the best dedicated hosting service for you. To be fair, we’re not quite sure how many websites and game servers you’d need to fire up at the same time to even come close to using up all that, but it’s nice to have the option. Some of the plans offer RAID setups for up to eight drives, letting you mix and match hard and solid-state drives in RAID0, RAID1, and even RAID10.
You can choose between servers with the Linux or Windows operating system in multiple distros or versions. The initial bandwidth with the best game server hosting on Hostwinds is limited to 10 TB a month, but you can upgrade it and even choose an unmetered bandwidth plan if you have some extra money.
The number of allotted IP addresses goes from eight IPs to 128, ideal for gaming. These are fully managed dedicated servers, so the Hostwinds team monitors them 24/7 and immediately informs you of anything noteworthy. A fully-automated nightly backup system is in place for extra security.
Considering all the features included, these are also very affordable dedicated servers. None of the plans cost less than $100 a month, but specific CPU, RAM, and bandwidth combinations ensure you won't go too far over that. That being said, upping the bandwidth gets expensive fairly quickly: An unlimited plan bumps up the price by a whopping $750.
Meanwhile, storage add-ons raise the price only slightly, so Hostwinds remains a good choice even if you have a wealth of files to host. And since games, for example, don't generate massive traffic, it could still be the best hosting for a dedicated server.
The Best Dedicated Hosting Services in 2023
- HostGator
- Dreamhost
- A2 Hosting
- Bluehost
- Hostwinds
Our Methodology for Identifying the Best Dedicated Servers
This is the most important criterion for choosing a dedicated server hosting service. Though we may be purchasing it for a limited time, a dedicated server is a piece of hardware like any other and one that has the potential to make or break our website.
There are three critical components to a server: A Central Processing Unit (CPU), like in your regular computer. Your primary focus should be on the number of cores and the computing power they possess.
The next crucial feature of the best dedicated hosting providers is ample RAM. It’s simple: You want as much RAM as possible, especially if you’re planning on hosting a multitude of websites or running a game server. Most dedicated game servers pack at least 16 GB of RAM.
Last but not least is storage type. SSD storage is vastly superior to old-fashioned hard drives, especially in terms of access speed. We give providers a higher rating if they exclusively use SSDs.
Scalability is another aspect we considered in our dedicated server hosting reviews. The hardware combinations offered, customization options, and configuration flexibility all play a significant role in evaluating any provider.
You should be able to choose components from both ends of the pricing spectrum. And if the host lets you change specific hardware at any point in your contract, without tying you down to the initial option you subscribed to, more power to them.
Online servers always entail a pre-set amount of storage space. You’ll never get “unlimited storage” offered by shared hosting companies.
When you rent dedicated servers, you rent a physical piece of hardware, including a storage drive that can only be expanded so far. Server space is crucial, and picking a plan that's low on storage will drastically limit what you can do, require more frequent cache clearing, etc.
Allotted monthly traffic is essential, too. Intended server use determines how much you'll need, but it's a good rule of thumb to have at least 10 times as much bandwidth as you have storage space. Anything beyond that is a welcome bonus.
The best dedicated server hosting for websites needs to offer root access, support for PHP, SQL, and many other scripts, and either Linux or Windows as the operating system. The latter is usually superior since some apps require Windows installed.
Don't forget about server management, either. Experienced users might prefer to save some money with unmanaged dedicated hosting, but if you're not eager to spend time on setting up everything yourself, better not opt for this. Ideally, a web hosting company will cater to people who want to rent a dedicated server and start using it right away and experts who prefer to customize their scripts.
We take extra care to analyze and compare dedicated server hosting prices. Dedicated servers are usually the most expensive hosting option, so it pays to inspect the features thoroughly to find saving opportunities. We also look into the available discounts - if there are any - and try to find the dedicated hosting plans that present the best value for our readers.
Great web hosting is worth a lot, but even the best dedicated server hosting providers won’t do you much good without proper customer support when there’s a hiccup. When that happens, you’ll want to get a hold of someone from the hosting company as soon as possible to resolve things quickly. To help with that, we look for dedicated server providers with 24/7 customer service.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
You and your needs decide the value of dedicated server hosting. Dedicated servers usually come with triple-digit monthly costs, but, in most cases, the needs of someone contemplating switching to such hosting already exceed the resources of shared web hosting plans.
It all boils down to finances: If your website or live service is bringing you more than what you’ll end up spending on a server, then it’s an excellent choice to upgrade to the best hosting services possible.
Both options have pros and cons. A cloud-hosting solution would better suit companies that don’t need extensive server customization. Cloud hosting is also easily scalable, so you can quickly switch to a higher plan to accommodate a sudden surge in traffic.
On the other hand, purchasing a dedicated server is a must if you plan to run PHP, Python, or Java code, and it’s the only option for hosting a game server. Both kinds of hosting are great - you just have to know what you’re going to do with a server.
Having a dedicated server doesn’t come cheap, primarily because this isn’t a shared service. The rented server and its respective storage and computing power will be yours and yours alone. Therefore, you’re paying for that exclusivity.
Most dedicated server hosts will offer you unmanaged solutions, letting users install and modify the software on a dedicated server according to their needs. However, you can switch to managed dedicated hosting too. All this variety requires a veritable treasure trove of hardware options and support staff; it’s also why there’s no such thing as free dedicated server hosting.
Most people get a dedicated server so they can host their websites securely. Dedicated hosting is unmatched in terms of stability, too. If you run a gaming community, you can use a dedicated server to host a game server, so your people have a place to play 24/7. Other standard dedicated server uses include acting as VPN points, messaging solutions, and data syncing.
We highly recommend any company from the selection we reviewed on this best dedicated server hosting list. These providers are the most reputable of the bunch, and offer great value and the highest-end hardware you'll find. Be sure to read our reviews to figure out which dedicated hosting plan is best suited for you.
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