All About Cookies is an independent, advertising-supported website. Some of the offers that appear on this site are from third-party advertisers from which All About Cookies receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear).
All About Cookies does not include all financial or credit offers that might be available to consumers nor do we include all companies or all available products. Information is accurate as of the publishing date and has not been provided or endorsed by the advertiser.
The All About Cookies editorial team strives to provide accurate, in-depth information and reviews to help you, our reader, make online privacy decisions with confidence. Here's what you can expect from us:
- All About Cookies makes money when you click the links on our site to some of the products and offers that we mention. These partnerships do not influence our opinions or recommendations. Read more about how we make money.
- Partners are not able to review or request changes to our content except for compliance reasons.
- We aim to make sure everything on our site is up-to-date and accurate as of the publishing date, but we cannot guarantee we haven't missed something. It's your responsibility to double-check all information before making any decision. If you spot something that looks wrong, please let us know.
Best for Beginners
Best Value
Hostinger is our top choice for Minecraft server hosting because it combines fairly reasonable pricing with features that can help you to easily set up and manage your Minecraft server.
If you don’t mind handling some of the technical stuff, IONOS can offer more server resources for the money. Or, UltaHost’s Minecraft-specific plans are chock full of features that make it dead simple to configure your server, but those plans can cost a little more as you go to the higher tiers.
In this article, we’ll go over the best hosting services for running a Minecraft server.
Compare the best web hosting services for Minecraft servers
Hostinger: Best for beginners
IONOS: Best for value
UltaHost: Best for security
The problem with free Minecraft hosting
Bottom line: The best web hosting service for Minecraft hosting
FAQs
The best web hosting services for Minecraft servers
Compare the best web hosting services for Minecraft servers
|
|
| |
| Best for | Best for beginners | Best for value | Best for security |
| Star rating | |||
| Starting price | Starts at $1.95/mo | Starts at $3.20/mo | Starts at $3.50/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 30 days | Yes — 30 days | Yes — 30 days |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% | 99.99% | 100% |
| Storage | 50 GB - 400 GB | 120 GB - 720 GB | Unmetered |
| CPU cores | 1 - 8 | 2 - 12 | Not listed |
| RAM | 4 GB - 32 GB | 4 GB - 24 GB | 4 GB - 14 GB |
| Player slots (estimated) | 1 - 20+ | 1 - 30+ | 1 - 30+ |
| Server locations | North America, Europe, South America, and Asia | North America and Europe | North America, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia |
| DDoS protection | |||
| Automatic backups | |||
| Mod support | |||
| Customer support | 24/7 — live chat, email, guides | 24/7 — live chat, phone, help center | 24/7 — live chat, phone, email, guides |
| Learn more | Get Hostinger | Get IONOS | Get UltaHost |
Hostinger: Best for beginners
What we liked
Minecraft server hosting plans: Hostinger’s Game Panel plans are specifically designed for Minecraft servers, so CPU cores and RAM/SSD speeds are up to the task. Some VPS hosts design their infrastructure to host only websites, so this consideration of game servers matters.
One-click installation: Hostinger offers one-click Minecraft game server installation. If you’re looking to start your very first game server, Hostinger will help you get up and running with no fuss.
Worldwide data centers: To avoid lag, you want to be as close to your game server as you can be. Hostinger has data servers all around the world, so you can make that happen.
What we didn’t like
Slightly high renewal prices: Hostinger’s Game Panel plans start very affordably at $4.99/mo for 24 months. However, after the 2-year period, it renews at $9.99/mo, with the higher-tier Game Panels renewing at $26.99 or $49.99/mo, after starting rates of $10.49 and $19.99/mo.
Test results
Hostinger’s servers are just fantastic all around. Our tests showed 100% uptime, reasonably low average server response times, and it passed the stress test. You want your game server to be fast, and Hostinger can do that for you.
![]() |
|
| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 138 ms |
| Did Hostinger pass the stress test? | Yes |
| Learn more | Get Hostinger |
Star rating summary
One of the reasons Hostinger is our top pick is that it scores highly across almost all categories, particularly in features, performance, and security. Good performance and security make it a good option for hosting a Minecraft server.
Hostinger earned a near-perfect star rating of 4.9 because it is user-friendly and comprehensive, provides reliable performance, and is affordable for small- to medium-sized businesses.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 10% | 5.0 |
| Value and capacity | 18% | 4.2 |
| Performance | 20% | 5.0 |
| Features | 25% | 5.0 |
| Security | 20% | 5.0 |
| Support and reputation | 7% | 4.9 |
IONOS: Best for value
What we liked
Affordable pricing plans: IONOS’ VPS plans are the most affordable on this list at the lower tiers, and you can get a solid Minecraft-capable plan for as low as $4/mo. While the higher-tiered VPS plans are a bit more expensive than Hostinger’s game server plans, they offer more resources.
Game server variety: IONOS offers several web hosting types, including VPS hosting, cloud hosting, and dedicated servers. You can run a game server on any of these, and it will be supported. If you need to scale up your Minecraft server as you go, you can.
Official game server installation guides: Despite the lack of one-click game server installs, IONOS’s help center includes guides for manual installations.
What we didn’t like
You have to do everything manually: The lack of one-click installs for game servers means you have to know a bit about server management and set everything up yourself. This can be a hassle for newbies or people who make frequent changes to server configurations.
Test results
IONOS did pretty well in our performance tests, with good server response times, 100% uptime, and an admirable showing during the stress test. In short, IONOS can handle game server traffic with no trouble.
![]() |
|
| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 311 ms |
| Did IONOS pass the stress test? | Yes |
| Learn more | Get IONOS |
Star rating summary
IONOS got perfect scores for performance and security in our rating system, though the more do-it-yourself nature of its VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting plans cost it a little in the features category. That said, it scored pretty highly in all categories anyway.
IONOS received a high star rating of 4.7 due to its highly intuitive dashboard, comprehensive features for affordable prices, and impressive performance.
Although we had a positive testing experience with IONOS, it received in a lower score in the experience category due to the upsells on various pages of the dashboard. IONOS also lacks built-in content delivery network.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 10% | 4.5 |
| Value and capacity | 18% | 4.8 |
| Performance | 20% | 5.0 |
| Features | 25% | 4.5 |
| Security | 20% | 5.0 |
| Support and reputation | 7% | 4.9 |
UltaHost: Best for security
What we liked
Strong security features: UltaHost has you covered in terms of security features, with free DDoS protection, malware protection, a web application firewall, server activity monitoring, and more. These can help you keep your private server secure.
Unmetered storage: UltaHost doesn’t place limits on the amount of storage you use, so you can install as many mods and build your Minecraft world to be as big as you like. Obviously, you’re still restricted by RAM usage, but you don’t have to worry about storage space for your average modded Minecraft server.
Minecraft server hosting plans: UltaHost offers server optimizations specifically for Minecraft, as well as easy server installation, automatic mod installation, full FTP server access, and other handy features.
What we didn’t like
CPU cores are not listed for Minecraft plans: You can technically get away with 1 CPU core in many cases, but not all. UltaHost doesn’t really give you enough information to work with when purchasing plans, which is unfortunate.
Test results
UltaHost did quite well in our performance tests, with 100% uptime and acceptable average server response times, though it could have been quicker in some of our tests. Keep an eye on the server's location when you purchase it, and make sure it’s close to you for low latency.
![]() |
|
| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 759 ms |
| Did UltaHost pass the stress test? | Yes |
| Learn more | Get UltaHost |
Star rating summary
UltaHost nails 5/5 ratings where it counts: performance, features, and security. The pricing suffers a little, and plans with enough RAM for more players can quickly get expensive compared to the competition. Otherwise, UltaHost offers a fantastic Minecraft server experience.
UltaHost earned a high star rating of 4.8 because it provides affordable, transparent pricing, comprehensive security for a great value, and excellent customer support.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 10% | 4.0 |
| Value and capacity | 18% | 4.6 |
| Performance | 20% | 5.0 |
| Features | 25% | 5.0 |
| Security | 20% | 5.0 |
| Support and reputation | 7% | 4.6 |
The problem with free Minecraft hosting
Now, some providers offer free Minecraft servers. Some are even pretty legit, at least for a vanilla Minecraft server with a handful of players. But you may have to watch ads for a while to play, for example. Plus, you really shouldn’t use a free web host to portforward your Minecraft server for security reasons.
And then some of these services will have privacy issues, and you won’t have control over your own personal data, or that of the other players on your server. There may also be rather strict limits on how many players can join you, and limits on modding your server. All in all, you get what you pay for. If you want a cheap web host for Minecraft servers, we still recommend Hostinger, IONOS, and UltaHost.
Bottom line: The best web hosting service for Minecraft hosting
Hostinger is our top pick because its pricing plans offer more value for the money than UltaHost's in terms of server resources, and it’s easier to set up than IONOS. But IONOS still offers better value for the money in terms of raw server resources, and UltaHost has slightly more advanced security features to make your server even more secure.
It’s honestly a pretty close win for Hostinger, and one of the other options may well suit you better depending on your level of server management experience.
How we test web hosting services
We use our proprietary grading rubric to evaluate web hosts based on performance, ease of use, features, support, and overall value. Our hands-on approach ensures our ratings reflect how each service actually performs in the real world, so you can choose a host with confidence.
Our process starts with signing up for each service and setting up a real website, just like you would. We run page speed, uptime, and stress tests to measure reliability and performance under load. We also explore the dashboard, test security tools, and contact support to see how responsive and helpful it is.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full testing methodology here.
FAQs
Is Hostinger the best for Minecraft server hosting?
For many, Hostinger is the best option for Minecraft server hosting. It offers the right balance between affordability and ease of use when setting up your first Minecraft server.
Is hosting a Minecraft server expensive?
Hosting a basic Minecraft server isn’t expensive. You can get started for as little as $9.99/mo (renewal prices) on Hostinger. This will get you a server that meets the minimum requirements for the Bedrock edition, and you can find even cheaper plans on UltaHost if you’re using the Java edition (and don’t have a lot of people playing with you).
Is it better to host a Minecraft server on my own PC?
It can be better to host your own server for Minecraft, if you have the right hardware, a good internet connection, and a little technical knowledge. But, you have to be the one to maintain the server, manage it, and generally see that it keeps working. Hosting your Minecraft server with a hosting provider can be more convenient.


