The Best VPS Hosting of 2025
Want to know straight away what the best VPS provider is for most site owners? Hostinger gets our recommendation because all of their VPS plans run on the latest hardware and software (NVMe storage and KVM technology), they've got servers across the globe, and their pricing is transparent and competitive.
VPS hosting is a sensible next step when you've outgrown shared hosting. At the same time, it can also serve as an affordable way (starting at just a few euros per month) to launch your self-developed web apps.
Whatever your specific needs may be, I expect that one of the VPS hosting services listed below will provide a solution.
The best VPS hosting of 2025
- Hostinger – Budget-friendly VPS hosting with 24/7 live chat support
- Cloud86 – Best managed VPS hosting
- Digital Ocean – Widest variety of unmanaged VPS hosting
- Vultr – VPS hosting starting at $2.50/month
#1 Hostinger – Budget-friendly VPS hosting with 24/7 live chat
- VPS Type: unmanaged
- Customer Support: 24/7 live chat, comprehensive knowledge base
- Costs: Starting at €5.49 per month
- Server locations: France, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Germany, India, Indonesia Singapore, USA, Brazil
Hostinger is a hosting provider which caters to a wide range of customers. With 2 million users, they have a significantly larger customer base than any other provider in this overview. Besides VPS hosting, they also offer shared and cloud hosting.
Despite their massive customer base and extremely broad hosting portfolio, this combination often doesn't translate to quality hosting services. However, Hostinger proves to be the exception to the rule.
They were one of the first major hosting providers to embrace LiteSpeed server technology and consistently invest in the latest hardware. Their VPS specifications are also generous, offering 10 GB of storage even with their most affordable plan.
Another nice aspect of Hostinger is that they offer 24/7 live chat support, though with an unmanaged VPS, you shouldn't expect much substantive help.
When should you choose VPS hosting from Hostinger?
Choose Hostinger's VPS hosting if you're looking for affordable international VPS hosting with a support team that's available around the clock.
Visit Hostinger here or read our Hostinger review for more information.
#2 Cloud86 – Best managed VPS hosting
- VPS Type: Managed
- Customer Service: Phone and ticket support on business days from 9 to 5, and 24/7 emergency phone support
- Costs: Starting at €179.95 per month
- Server locations: Netherlands
Cloud86 is one of the most innovative hosting providers in Europe. When it comes to server management and administration, few companies can match their capabilities. As a Litespeed platinum partner, this provider refuses to settle for anything less than being one of the fastest hosts in Europe.
I consider them to be the best hosting provider in Europe.
Over the past few years, Cloud86 has somewhat scaled back their hosting offerings. While previously you could turn to them for unmanaged VPS hosting, they now only offer managed VPS hosting (just 3 plans).
There's nothing wrong with that approach: they're clearly targeting a market of less technically inclined individuals who still want blazing fast hosting performance combined with robust support.
But if you're on a tighter budget, looking for root access to your VPS, or want to configure various settings yourself, then Cloud86 isn't the right choice for you.
When is VPS hosting with Cloud86 right for you?
Opt for a managed VPS with Cloud86 if you're looking for a completely hands-off approach to your hosting and want unbeatable performance. Cloud86's VPS offerings are far from cheap, but you'll get support that's available 24/7 (for emergencies) and can house your rapidly growing site with them with complete peace of mind.
Visit Cloud86 here or read our Cloud86 review for more information.
#4 DigitalOcean – Greatest variety of unmanaged VPS hosting
- VPS Type: Unmanaged
- Customer Support: Very comprehensive knowledge base, ticket support with 24-hour wait times (expect only the most basic assistance)
- Cost: Starting at $4/month
- Server locations: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Canada, Singapore, India
With DigitalOcean, we now enter the realm of highly specialized VPS hosting. It's a provider that focuses almost exclusively on tech enthusiasts (although with their acquisition of Cloudways, they've recently begun serving a less technically savvy market segment as well).
In the world of unmanaged VPS hosting, DigitalOcean offers by far the best documentation. Much of this documentation is provided by their community. This is important because their support (which they don't even mention on their homepage) is absolutely worthless.
The most budget-friendly DO plans leave something to be desired in terms of performance, but pay a little more and it becomes excellent. Additionally, they offer hosting for practically every use case you could imagine.
When should you consider VPS hosting with DigitalOcean?
Choose DigitalOcean only if you're technically inclined and don't mind the almost complete lack of support. With DO, you're on your own, relying on their (very extensive) knowledge base and their online community where you can talk to other users.
Visit DigitalOcean here or read our DigitalOcean review for more information.
#5 Vultr – VPS hosting starting at $2.50 per month
- VPS Type: Unmanaged
- Customer Service: Extensive knowledge base, very basic ticket support
- Cost: Starting at $2.50/month
- Server locations: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Poland, Spain, Sweden, USA, Brazil, Chile, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Israel, Australia, South Africa
Vultr is the type of hosting by nerds for nerds. Similar to Digital Ocean, but even more so, because they lack the cute UI and terminology (“droplets”) that DO offers.
Vultr can be super fast – especially their high-frequency instances.
Something to consider. I can't speak from personal experience, but I personally know several people who have complained about Vultr's stability. If you're unlucky, websites hosted there can go down regularly. This, combined with their practically non-existent customer support, can be a deadly combination.
Other people have had no issues at all for years. This seems to depend on which data center your site is hosted in.
When should you opt for VPS hosting with Vultr?
This is basically the same situation as with Digital Ocean. Choose Vultr if you don't mind being on your own and have technical skills. Keep in mind that while many people swear by Vultr, there are also quite a few complaints about downtime.
Visit Vultr here or read our Vultr review for more information.
VPS hosting compared
Compare these VPS hosting providers side by side:
| Cloud86 | Hostinger | DigitalOcean | Vultr | |
| Website | Cloud86.io | Hostinger.nl | DigitalOcean.com | Vultr.com |
| VPS Type | Managed | Self-managed | Unmanaged | Unmanaged |
| Support | Telephone and ticket support on weekdays between 9 AM and 5 PM, with 24/7 emergency phone support | 24/7 live chat (wait times up to one hour), comprehensive knowledge base | Comprehensive knowledge base, ticket support with 24-hour wait times (expect only the most basic assistance) | Comprehensive knowledge base, extremely minimalist ticket support |
| Prices starting at | €169.95 per month | $5.49/month | $4 per month | $2.50 per month |
| Server Locations | Netherlands | 10 countries (including the Netherlands) | 7 countries (including the Netherlands) | 17 countries (including the Netherlands) |
| Specifications of the Cheapest Package | 50 GB storage, 3 CPUs, 16 GB RAM, unlimited bandwidth | 10 GB storage, 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth | 10 GB storage, 1 CPU, 512 MB RAM, 500 GB bandwidth | 10 GB storage, 1 CPU, 512 MB RAM, 500 GB bandwidth |
What is VPS hosting?
A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a type of web hosting that uses virtualization technology to provide you with dedicated resources on a server shared by multiple users.
VPS hosting is ideal for rapidly growing websites and/or sites with demanding requirements (such as larger online stores), or tech enthusiasts who want server control at an affordable price.
Managed vs. unmanaged VPS hosting
With a managed VPS, the hosting provider handles all server management tasks for you. This includes selecting and installing an operating system (OS), maintenance, security, updates, and day-to-day operational tasks.
With an unmanaged VPS, you're responsible for all server management. This can be a good option if you're technically skilled or have an IT department.
Things to mind when choosing VPS hosting
When choosing a VPS hosting provider, the following points are the most important.
Performance
VPS performance comes down to raw computing power. This partly depends on how many CPU cores and how much RAM you're allocated, but equally important is how new (and good) the hardware is.
The cheapest VPS hosting typically uses previous generation hardware. Pay a bit more and you'll get access to Xeon processors and NVMe storage (like with mijn.host) or Premium AMD processors (like with Digital Ocean).
Reliability
The best VPS providers offer an uptime SLA of 99.99%. With managed VPS hosting, it's important that your server is monitored 24/7 and that there's an emergency number where you can reach your provider at any time of day.
Scalability
The idea behind a VPS is that you can scale it according to your needs. In some cases, you may want to do this by adding extra CPUs, other times having more RAM is desirable, and sometimes you simply need more storage space.
Whatever the case may be, you want your VPS provider to make this easy and quick for you, all at a fair price.
Control panels / operating systems
If you're going with an unmanaged VPS, you likely already have in mind which web control panels you want to use.
If you're using your VPS for WordPress sites, you'll typically want to choose between Plesk and Direct Admin, and have access to tools like LiteSpeed and CloudLinux.
Support
With an unmanaged VPS, regardless of which provider you choose, don't expect comprehensive support. Count on only the most basic assistance and not much beyond that. Any problems you cause with your VPS will be yours to solve on your own.
Therefore, it's important to have access to an extensive knowledge base when using an unmanaged VPS.
With a managed VPS, it's a completely different story. In this case, you need to be able to count on a provider that offers you 24/7 support and protection.
With Cloud86, you can reach them by phone at any time of day if you encounter problems with your server.
Security
With a managed VPS, you don't need to worry about server security in principle. Your host should have configured your server in such a way that it's completely secure.
With an unmanaged VPS, you need to gain access to appropriate security software. This is directly related to the web control panels offered by the provider.
In addition, you should expect a reliable VPS host to maintain off-site backup locations to ensure your web projects remain safe no matter what happens to their primary data center.
Server locations
Generally, you want the majority of your visitors to be as close as possible to the server where your website is hosted.
Summary: these are the best VPS hosting providers
Here you'll find the best VPS providers available right now:
- Hostinger – Budget-friendly VPS hosting with 24/7 live chat support
- Cloud86 – Best Managed VPS hosting
- Digital Ocean – Widest variety of unmanaged VPS hosting
- Vultr – VPS hosting starting at $2.50/month
Hostinger is a well-known budget hosting provider offering 24/7 live chat support (though with an unmanaged VPS, you shouldn't expect much substantive assistance) and 7 server locations.
Cloud86 is great if you're looking for a managed VPS.
Digital Ocean offers by far the largest range of VPS hosting options, has the most features of all options in this overview, and provides the best documentation.
Vultr is also an excellent option, offering genuinely inexpensive VPS hosting. Additionally, they have many more server locations than other providers in this overview. However, their documentation isn't as comprehensive, and you'll occasionally hear anecdotal reports that performance varies between different server locations.
The support from both Digital Ocean and Vultr is frequently described by many users as “non-existent.” You'll need to make peace with this if you decide to go with either of these providers.
