
While the Cloud is great for sites that outgrow shared hosting, the top dedicated server hosting solutions offer more stability, server resources, control, and speed.
If you’re in the process of creating your website, you’ve probably come across the term dedicated server hosting. Getting dedicated hosting means leasing out a personal physical server to host your website. Unlike shared hosting, where the server is used by multiple sites, a dedicated server devotes its full resources to only one client.
Our curated list of the best dedicated server hosting options will help you find a safe home for your site. And although dedicated hosting costs significantly more than the shared option, it offers a greater degree of flexibility and enables you to grow your site more efficiently.
Server hosting providers offer multiple pricing plans with a variety of resources. The cheapest form of server hosting is shared hosting, which involves placing numerous sites on the same server. Unlike the service provided by the best dedicated server hosting companies, shared hosting has several notable downsides.
Firstly, the number of resources at your disposal, like RAM, storage, and CPU power, is limited because you share them with other sites on the same server. This means that whenever one of the sites on the server experiences heavy traffic, it causes others to run slower or even go offline.
Consequently, this prevents you from running scripts on your site and limits your control over the server. The best dedicated server website hosting ensures privacy and complete control over apps, scripts, and security, while shared hosting lacks in each of these departments. However, the latter is a significantly cheaper option and a suitable alternative for smaller sites.
For sites that grow larger but don’t yet require a dedicated server hosting service, virtual private server hosting presents a suitable middle-ground. A mash-up of shared and dedicated hosting, the VPS hosting option allows multiple clients on one server but gives separate parcels to each site through virtualization technology.
This allocates a certain amount of resources for each individual client, enabling sites to run their own scripts, apps, and more.
Finally, we have dedicated servers. If your site is more complex, with various scripts, apps, and potentially heavy traffic, then there’s no substitute for the best dedicated hosting servers. Signing up for dedicated server hosting places the full capacity of a physical server solely at your disposal.
This gives you full control over any systems, scripts, or apps you might want to run, almost 100% uptime, better data transfer caps, and overall impeccable stability. For those who want their site to stand on firm legs, dedicated hosting is the way to go.
TMD Hosting
HostGator
DreamHost
Redswitches
A2 Hosting
Bluehost
While far from being the oldest hosting provider on the market, TMDHosting quickly established itself as one of the most popular options.
It’s definitely our number one choice because it offers a huge number of different pricing plans, encompassing shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting solutions. Coupled with 24/7 support, high storage capacities, and no bandwidth limits in its dedicated hosting plans, it's easy to understand why we selected it as our top recommendation.
TMDHosting offers a variety of useful features that make it one of the best fully managed dedicated server hosting providers. For starters, it has unlimited bandwidth across all of its managed dedicated hosting plans. This means that there is no limit on the amount of data that can be transferred to and from your site on a monthly basis.
The provider offers a 99.99% uptime guarantee. While this is a fairly common marketing ploy, TMDHosting’s uptime is highly commendable in practice. Sites hosted on their servers are stable, and slowdowns or downtimes are an extremely rare occurrence.
Meanwhile, their customer support agents are available 24/7 via live chat, which is an invaluable asset. When you encounter problems while running a site, waiting for assistance for hours can be extremely costly.
TMDHosting’s network infrastructure also brings it closer to being the fastest, most dedicated hosting server provider. Their SSAE-16 certified network facility, direct connection to ISPs, and Dual 10GbE network facilitate ultra-fast load times on hosted sites.
All of the dedicated hosting plans are fully managed. This means that the provider’s team keeps an eye out for any security issues, with a guaranteed 15-minute response time by their technicians.
In addition, there are over 1,300 apps available with regular updates and compatibility and a variety of e-commerce tools.
There are four different pricing plans for reliable server hosting. All of the plans come with unlimited bandwidth, premium support, free setup, full 24/7 monitoring, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What makes TMDHosting possibly the best dedicated server hosting with cPanel is that all of its plans are currently at a 50% discount. If you’re thinking of getting dedicated hosting, now’s the time to do it.
The main differences between the plans relate to server resources, which break down as follows:
TMDHosting has everything you need from a steadfast server provider, including round-the-clock support, superior network infrastructure and security, plenty of storage, and no bandwidth limits. The one downside is that it only offers Linux-based servers. But perhaps this is the very reason why it’s regarded as the best Linux dedicated server hosting provider on the market.
Chances are that you’ve already visited hundreds of sites powered by HostGator. With more than eight million domains under its belt, HostGator offers one of the top web hosting services in the industry. At first glance, its features are fairly similar to those on offer with TMDHosting.
However, unlike TDM, HostGator offers a Windows-based dedicated server host and has a few tricks up the sleeve that separate it from the crowd.
Since being launched in 2002, HostGator has attracted millions of users and acquired a reputation for being a reliable hosting service.
Like many trustworthy server hosting providers in the USA, HostGator doesn’t limit your monthly bandwidth. However, there is a 25% CPU usage limit. You can only exceed this limit for 90 seconds. Anything beyond that is penalized.
Unlike most of its competitors that only offer Linux-based dedicated servers, HostGator is one of the few providers that gives customers access to both Windows and Linux-based hosting services. The company’s servers run great on both operating systems.
In addition to being one of the best Windows server hosting options, HostGator allows you to choose between HDD and SSD storage on your servers. HDD has more storage capacity, but SSD is faster.
Like with any dedicated server, you gain full control over its settings, apps, and scripts. You get cPanel and WHM on Linux, or Plesk and Webmatrix if you choose a Windows-based server.
Its security features are equally impressive. There’s DDoS protection, firewalls, and both manual and scheduled backups. The network infrastructure is in a class of its own, with US-based data centers having multiple bandwidth providers and ensuring nearly 100% uptime.
Meanwhile, the customer support team is at your beck and call 24/7 in case you encounter any issues.
If you’re on the hunt for the best competitive dedicated server hosting, this is the ideal time to purchase one. HostGator is currently offering a 52% discount on all dedicated server offers. All of the plans come with unmetered bandwidth but differ in server power.
If you don’t like to venture outside mainstream services, HostGator is an ideal choice for dedicated server hosting. It includes great uptime, powerful servers, and terrific network infrastructure, making it a great alternative to TMDHosting, especially if you prefer Windows over Linux.
DreamHost is a dedicated hosting service that offers a long list of features and a plethora of tools for beginners. It has a fairly simple pricing structure, with an option that doesn’t require a contract and a generous money-back deal.
Like many of the traditional dedicated servers, DreamHost doesn’t limit its offer to dedicated servers. The company offers shared, VPS, and cloud-based hosting as well. Furthermore, you can use their site builders, SEO, and email hosting services.
When it comes to dedicated website hosting servers, DreamHost ticks all the boxes. Through their fully managed servers, the DreamHost team oversees your site 24/7 and keeps an eye out for any signs of security breaches or technical issues. This takes a huge burden off your shoulders, and you can rest assured that any complications with your site will be dealt with quickly.
Unfortunately, DreamHost offers only Linux dedicated servers. For Windows-based ones, you’ll have to check out some of the other top hosting sites on our list.
When it comes to security, the hosting websites all come with SSL/TLS certificates free of charge. These are important components, especially if you’re into e-commerce, as they encrypt sensitive information that travels between the site and the user. There’s anti-spam protection on emails as well as DDoS protection. Unfortunately, anti-malware isn’t currently available.
DreamHost claims that it can guarantee 100% uptime. So far, the claim appears to be accurate, as the sites hosted by this provider are extremely stable. As with previous providers on our list, DreamHost offers unmetered bandwidth across all of its dedicated server plans.
Their managed dedicated server also comes with 24/7 customer support. Widely regarded as the best enterprise dedicated private server hosting option, DreamHost gives you a choice between HDD and SSD storage.
The only difference between the nine different servers on offer is the strength. DreamHost is pricier than most and, as such, is a preferred choice for those who really want the best of the best. The pricing plans are divided into three groups: Standard, Enhanced, and Enhanced SSD.
The Standard group’s pricing ranges between $149/month and $229/month. It comes with a 4-core/8-thread CPU, up to 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of HDD storage.
The Enhanced plans cost between $279/month and $379/month. The CPU is 12-core/24-thread, RAM goes from 16GB to 64GB, and it comes with 2TB of HDD storage.
Lastly, the Enhanced SSD plans range between $279 and $379. Its server resources are identical to the Enhanced plans, except for storage, where you get a 240GB SSD.
If you’re looking for affordable dedicated servers, DreamHost probably isn’t the company for you. But if you want state-of-the-art security and the most powerful managed servers on the market, there’s no better option. The impressive server resources, which go up to 64GB of RAM and 12-core/24-thread CPUs, can handle sites with very high traffic volumes.
RedSwitches is a server-hosting service that has grown from a small operation to a company with server centers in eight locations across four continents and server location determines your loading speed. Nowadays, RedSwitches has a user base of startups, streaming services, designers, developers, and SaaS companies that rely on its affordable service.
Dedicated servers for web hosting are located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The most notable feature of RedSwitches’ bare metal servers is that they are highly customizable: Each of the provided plans can be upgraded with a higher-capacity HDD, RAM, and GE uplink.
This provider’s dedicated server hosting starts at an affordable price for unmetered bandwidth, as well as Acronis backups, licensed Windows servers, and managed support.
Anyone interested in testing server performance before making a financial commitment can download speed test files for each server.
Any RedSwitches dedicated server hosting comes with DDoS protection and server setup for free. You’ll also get root and IPMI/KVM access, allowing complete control of your server’s hardware.
The most affordable server on offer is the Intel Xeon E3-1230v1 in European data centers in the Netherlands and Germany. The basic package is $93.05 per month and includes a CPU with four cores and eight threads at 3.2 GHz, 16 GB of DDR3 RAM, 100 TB of bandwidth, a 1 Gbit uplink, and four SATA 3 HDDs with 3 TB.
RedSwitches dedicated hosting prices depend on any customizations made on your part, like increasing port speed, adding more IP addresses, upgrading to SSDs, adding more RAM, configuring RAID, and upgrading bandwidth.
For each server, you can see the result of the Passmark benchmark test, and it varies from 7,848 to 35,063. The highest Passmark score and the most expensive server is the 2x Intel Xeon Gold 6138, priced at $1,044.45 per month. This machine is packed with 40 CPU cores with 80 threads at 2 GHz, 128 GB of DDR4 RAM, and two 240 GB SSDs with 1 TB of NVMe.
You have a great selection of operating systems for servers, including FreeBSD, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, and ESXI, at no extra cost. However, for the Windows Standard 2012 and 2016 OS, you’ll have to include a license fee in your expenses.
Anyone needing a dedicated web hosting provider won’t make a mistake with RedSwitches. The company offers both managed and unmanaged bare metal servers, among plenty of other dedicated server hosting solutions. It’s also partnered with names like Dell, HP, Microsoft, and Acronis to deliver optimal solutions to its users.
While its customer support team is available 24/7, the platform lacks online resources such as a knowledge base. However, you can always make an appointment for an online presentation or contact the accommodating team if you have any questions or doubts.
A2 Hosting offers a tiered pricing structure that encompasses a variety of dedicated server hosting options. While most companies on our list stick to fully-monitored servers, A2 Hosting allows you to get unmanaged dedicated servers if you’re on a budget or prefer to self-monitor.
The primary asset of A2 Hosting is speed, and this is how it distinguishes itself from some of the top dedicated server hosting companies. It claims that its Turbo Servers are up to 20 times faster than regular ones, leading to better SEO ranking, lower bounce rates, and greater overall site speed.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, A2 Hosting offers only Linux-based servers. But we’d definitely like to see more Windows-dedicated services provided by these hosting sites.
Another feature we’re used to seeing is the 99.9% uptime guarantee. Due to advancements in network infrastructure, these guarantees actually count for something. A2 Hosting’s servers are stable and reliable, a sentiment echoed by countless online user reviews.
If you’re on a tight budget and you’re looking for the cheapest dedicated server hosting, you should consider the unmanaged option. This means that there won’t be a team of people overseeing your site for issues and security breaches 24/7 – that will be your responsibility. This will save you some money, but you shouldn’t consider this option if you have no prior experience with web hosting.
A2 Hosting’s Guru Crew customer support can be reached 24/7, any day of the week. They are available both via live chat and by phone, which is refreshing since most companies offer only live chat channels.
A2 Hosting is probably the prime dedicated server hosting for WordPress thanks to its many WordPress hosting plans. When it comes to dedicated servers, the pricing plans differ in multiple ways: root access, server resources, and whether they’re managed or not. This long list of options makes it easier for all types of users to find something suitable.
Unmanaged: Starting from $99.34/month – root access, 8 to 16GB of RAM, 10 to 20TB transfer quota, 2 to 8+ cores, up to 2X1000GB storage
Discount SSD: from $129.30/month – free cPanel, HostGuard management, 8 to 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, from 10 to 20TB transfer quota, 2 to 8 CPU cores, free SSL
Managed Flex: from $141.09/month – free cPanel, HostGuard management, 8 to 16GB of RAM, 1TB storage+, 2 to 8+ CPU cores, free SSL
Core Flex: from $290.49/month – free cPanel, root access, HostGuard management, 8 to 16GB of RAM, 10 to 20TB+ transfer quota, 2 to 8+ CPU cores, free SSL
As with most of the best hosting options, A2 Hosting has a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
While there are many similarities between the features being offered by A2 Hosting and those that you find with its competitors, the company’s multi-layered pricing structure allows everyone to find a suitable option.
BlueHost is one of the leading web hosting solutions, which is why it has deserved one of our dedicated server reviews. It was founded in 2003, and since then, it has been providing comprehensive tools to millions of users worldwide to help them get on the web and achieve their full potential.
BlueHost’s dedicated hosting comes with a set of impressive features and benefits. With it, users get access to unmanaged servers where they can control everything, including the operating system and Apache. There’s also a multiserver management feature through which users can add more VPS, as well as shared or dedicated hosting services to their accounts.
An improved control panel helps users easily manage all their websites, emails, domains, resources, and more all from one place. The thing that makes BlueHost arguably the top dedicated server hosting, according to reviews, is that with each new plan, you get a free domain for the first year.
BlueHost dedicated hosting also provides you with a free SSL certificate that secures the connection to the user’s website and protects their personal information. Fast provisioning and full root access give users the possibility to perform custom installs. Besides that, they can also upgrade the storage in real time without having to ask for any server admin assistance.
Another great addon offered by BlueHost is the spam filter, which costs $2.99 a month per domain name.
BlueHost has three dedicated hosting options and offers some of the best cheap dedicated server deals on the market.
All the plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, meaning users can cancel the service and request a full refund of hosting fees within that time frame. Plus, you get dedicated support from agents trained in solving issues related to dedicated hosting solutions.
If you’re on the lookout for the best managed dedicated server hosting, BlueHost might not be the best choice for you.
On the other hand, if you wish to have access to custom-build servers, RAID storage, premium SSL certificates, and round-the-clock customer support, you won’t be disappointed with this provider. Its ease of use and affordable prices make it great for beginners and those who wish to host a simple website.
Server hosting services can be complicated to grasp, especially if you’re new to site-building. What should your preferred web host or a dedicated hosting provider offer? Shared web hosting, or bare metal dedicated servers? What about dedicated hosting packages, server management, and VPS hosting?
In order to make it easier for you to evaluate different companies and gain basic knowledge to choose the best dedicated server provider, we have laid out our review methodology below.
When you’re running a site, there’s no single metric as important as uptime. Sites that go offline can cause frustration, customer dissatisfaction, and a potentially significant loss of revenue.
Hence, uptime represents a crucial metric in our reviews. Most top providers offer some sort of high-percentage guarantee for uptime, but there are differences between them. Whenever you’re making a dedicated server hosting comparison, uptime should always be at the top of the list.
In many ways, servers are similar to regular computers. They rely on their hardware to keep your site running efficiently. While searching for the best dedicated servers, there are two important components to keep an eye out for – the server’s RAM memory and CPU output.
RAM (Random Access Memory) has a near-identical function in server hosting as it does on your computer. It’s used for storing data and making it available to run various processes and applications. The more RAM memory a server has, the bigger the temporary workspace is for the server to pull data from when running processes. This reduces the number of times the server has to access the hard drive. In short, the larger the RAM, the quicker the site.
Therefore, the amount of RAM available is an important component when reviewing the top server hosting companies. Insufficient memory can lead to slowdowns or server errors.
Another critical part of the hardware used for dedicated hosting services is the CPU. The processors provide processing power, directly impacting the speed at which the server can work with information and handle higher traffic loads. Again, the same conventional wisdom applies here – the more, the merrier.
Storage also plays an important part in your server’s ecosystem. Disk storage is used to store everything from images to server configuration and backup files. Of course, you’ll want to have as much storage as possible, but first, you need to make a choice between HDD or SSD disks.
This is an important decision in your search for the best web hosting dedicated server. SSD or solid-state drives are much faster, guaranteeing quicker load times. But this is the pricier option and usually comes with less storage capacity than HDDs. Typical hard disk drives are slower but offer much more storage.
The majority of hosting companies impose bandwidth limits. This means that the number of downloads/uploads and overall monthly data transfers are limited. There’s no reason to worry, as most of the bandwidth caps are perfectly suitable for small and medium-sized sites. There are also providers that offer unlimited data transfers.
Security should definitely be near the top of your list during your search for the finest dedicated server hosting, especially if you plan on running an e-commerce site or handling sensitive user information. SSL encryption is a very important security measure, as it encrypts all information transfers between users and your site.
Therefore, you should keep an eye out for companies that offer an SSL/TLS certificate. You should also look into malware protection, backups, and security monitoring.
Quality customer support is arguably one of the most crucial aspects of any service. Web hosting is no exception, requiring diligent and readily available support staff. The first-rate dedicated server hosting provider has to offer impeccable customer support in order to be able to efficiently address issues such as slowdowns, security breaches, or sites going down.
If you’re going for sheer power, DreamHost is both the finest and priciest option. Meanwhile, HostGator and TMDHosting are the best all-around solutions.
If you expect higher traffic or if you’re running an e-commerce site, it’s definitely worth it. Dedicated servers provide stability and security.
Usually, the cost is upwards of $100 per month, but thanks to discounts, some plans cost less.
While the Cloud is great for sites that outgrow shared hosting, the top dedicated server hosting solutions offer more stability, server resources, control, and speed.