Best cheap dedicated server hosting 2024

Although dedicated servers are generally more expensive than shared servers for hosting your website, the costs can be as low as $35.00/month. It all depends on which provider you pick, and there are many options to choose from.

In this article, I introduce you to our top 5 cheap dedicated hosting providers that all have been tried and tested by the Cybernews experts. To help you choose the right solution, I also cover the factors you should consider when choosing the best option.

5 best cheap dedicated servers

1. Bluehost – top-quality dedicated hosting for high traffic sites from $89.98/month
2. InMotion Hosting – cheap dedicated hosting for businesses of all size from $35.00/month
3. InterServer – customizable dedicated hosting option for businesses from $59.00/month
4. HostGator – semi-managed dedicated hosting from $91.98/month
5. A2 Hosting – managed dedicated hosting for eCommerce from $199.99/month

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5 best cheap dedicated server hosts – detailed list

There are many web hosting providers out there offering dedicated server hosting. However, the pricing and the features vary greatly between different web hosts. I joined our experts to test different providers and pick the 5 best cheap dedicated server hosts.

1. Bluehost – most comprehensive unmanaged dedicated hosting solution

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Easily one of the most recognized names in the world of hosting, Bluehost offers the best performance with its cheap unmanaged dedicated hosting solution.

Standard costs $89.98/month and is the cheapest Bluehost dedicated hosting plan. Here’s what it offers:

• 4 cores
• 8GB RAM
• 1TB HDD storage
• Unmetered bandwidth
• cPanel with root access

As your project grows, it’s easy to scale with two other Bluehost plans: Enhanced ($119.88/month) and Premium ($139.99/month). You can go up to 8 cores, 30GB of RAM, and 2TB of HDD storage.

For your peace of mind, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, but note that it doesn’t cover domain fees and add-ons. My favorite things about Bluehost’s dedicated hosting are instant provisioning, automated upgrades, and a convenient control panel – surprisingly not all hosts offer that.

It’s important to note that Bluehost offers unmanaged dedicated hosting. If you’re a beginner or don’t want to fuss around with server management, I recommend opting for InterServer, HostGator, or A2 Hosting.

However, if you’re not intimidated by the prospect of having to set up and manage your dedicated hosting server all by yourself, here’s what you can expect from Bluehost:

• Free SSL certificate and domain for the first year
• cPanel & WHM for easier management
• Root access for flexibility and customizations
• RAID1 storage that mirrors your data onto a second drive for better security and protection
• Easy storage upgrades for increasing available storage in real-time
• 24/7 dedicated support

Bluehost performance

Bluehost might be cheap, but its performance is what makes it stand out. I tested Bluehost for over a month, and I was thoroughly pleased by the results: 100% uptime and 438ms average response time.

My site didn’t see a single minute of downtime throughout the whole month, which is impressive. That said, note that Bluehost doesn’t have an official uptime guarantee, so it’s hard to say how the host would perform for other users.

I also want to point out that the server I tested on was quite bare and wasn’t supported by speed-enhancing tools/features. In short, you can expect even better results if you take the time to optimize your dedicated server. Just keep in mind that Bluehost will perform best for US-based visitors – that’s where its data center is located.

In brief, Bluehost’s performance is exactly what you want to see: fast and reliable. For me, the main weak point is that the provider does not have an uptime guarantee.

Economical, comprehensive resources and features, and excellent performance – Bluehost is a top-notch option for unmanaged dedicated hosting.

2. InMotion Hosting – cheap dedicated hosting with good performance

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Catering to those who like flexibility and control, InMotion Hosting offers a wide range of unmanaged dedicated server hosting options. Besides that, with prices starting from just $35.00/month, the provider not only offers the most budget-friendly option on this list but also is surprisingly rich in features.

InMotion Hosting has 8 dedicated hosting plans, and there are options for both smaller businesses that are looking for cost-effective solutions, as well as large-scale eCommerce sites that need plenty of resources to run.

The cheapest InMotion Hosting plan, Aspire, costs $35.00/month. It comes with:

• 4 cores
• 16GB RAM
• 1TB SSD
• Unmetered bandwidth
• 10GB free backup storage

When scaling up, you can opt for plans that offer a significant increase in resources. For example, the top-tier plan, Elite ($219.99/month) offers 128GB of RAM, 2x2TB of SSD storage, 8 cores, 16 dedicated IPs, and 250GB of free backup storage.

Best part is, you get a money-back guarantee, which means you can try different plans out without a huge monetary risk. And there are numerous other perks you can enjoy with all InMotion Hosting plans:

• Free setup
• Free SSL certificate
• Root access
• DDoS protection
• Remote KVM
• Free Ansible Control Node

InMotion Hosting performance

InMotion Hosting’s performance is one of the best out of all providers on this list. Its average response time is fast at 414ms and the uptime is an impressive 99.93%.

During the month of monitoring, my site had 2 outages of 31 minutes. This is the only negative about the performance of this provider. That said, while the outages were long, the uptime worked out to 99.93%, which is generally better than the industry standard.

Furthermore, InMotion Hosting did very well with its average response time – coming in at 414ms. Since this is the result I achieved without any enhancements, you should see even faster results with optimizations.

Highly customizable, resource-rich, and fast, InMotion rightfully deserves its spot on this list of cheap dedicated hosting solutions.

3. InterServer – customizable managed dedicated hosting with decent performance

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With dedicated hosting plans starting at just $59.00/month, InterServer offers one of the cheapest solutions on the market. Despite its inexpensive pricing, the provider allows for quite a bit of customization and introduces plenty of features.

InterServer is also known for its wide selection of plans. The cheapest dedicated hosting plan, Xeon E3-1230, costs $59.00/month and comes with the following specs:

• 4 core CPU
• 32GB RAM
• 500GB SSD
• Unmetered bandwidth

If you need to scale up to support your project, there are 12 other plans to choose from. The top plan, AMD EPYC 7443P ($533.00/month), offers 24 cores and 128GB of RAM. Additionally, you can further configure things like OS options – CentOS, Linux, Windows, and more.

Despite the surprisingly low pricing, InterServer’s packages still manage to offer a lot of features that you can find with more expensive providers as well. All the plans come with various freebies like:

• DDoS protection
• Remote reboots
• 24/7 uptime monitoring
• Remote KVM
• IPMI or iLo access
• Data migration

Partial server management/support is also available and covers things like OS reinstallation, web and mail server repair, and more. On the downside, there’s no control panel included in the plans, and you actually need to pay extra – DirectAdmin costs from $3.75/month, Plesk – $14/month, and cPanel – $52/month.

InterServer performance

InterServer’s performance is solid, but it doesn’t surpass Bluehost, HostGator, or InMotion Hosting. Over a month of observation revealed an uptime of 99.92% and a decent average response time of 513ms.

When I tested InterServer, most of the downtimes were mainly clustered around a few days. So, this could have been a one-time issue. In any case, you can find comfort in InterServer’s uptime guarantee. Credits are available if the uptime falls below 99.9%.

As for the server’s response time, I’d say that its 513ms time is rather good. Sure, I’d have preferred for the response times to be under 400ms – which is what I observed during the first few days – but I’m still satisfied with the overall average.

Again, keep in mind that I achieved this result with bare hardware, without any speed-boosting features implemented. You can easily optimize InterServer dedicated hosting to further speed things up. And, if your target audience is in North America, you’ll see the best performance since all of InterServer’s dedicated servers are in the US.

All things considered, InterServer Hosting brings a whole lot of value to the table for dedicated hosting despite its cheap pricing – making it ideal for bargain hunters.

4. HostGator – semi-managed dedicated hosting solution for more flexibility

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HostGator is very competitively priced, and you get to choose between managed or semi-managed hosting. Beyond that, the provider also allows for plenty of flexibility in configuring your server.

There are three dedicated hosting plans by HostGator in total, and the cheapest one is Value Server, which costs $91.98/month. Here are the resources you can expect when opting for this solution:

• 4 cores
• 8GB RAM
• 1TB HDD
• Unmetered bandwidth

If you need even more resources, there’s always room for an upgrade with Power Server ($121.89/month) and Enterprise Server ($141.99/month) options. You can scale up to 8 cores, 30GB of RAM, and 2TB of HDD storage.

Unfortunately, HostGator doesn't offer a money-back guarantee or refunds for dedicated hosting, so you have to consider the solution carefully before you commit.

All in all, I’d say that HostGator is really among the most beginner-friendly options available. This hosting provider is especially good for business owners who might want to learn to manage a dedicated server themselves – it has a very intuitive interface that is basically a mix of a customized dashboard and cPanel.

Additionally, you also get to decide between Linux and Windows operating systems to find one that fits you best. But HostGator’s biggest attraction has to be its generosity. Feature-wise, the host offers the following:

• Full root access
• Control panel (Plesk, cPanel, Softaculous)
• DDoS protection
• IP-based firewall
• Free migration

HostGator performance

I was pleasantly surprised by HostGator’s performance during in-house tests. The provider tested very well with 100% uptime and an average response time of 448ms.

During my month of observation, there were two outages totaling 2 minutes – better than A2 Hosting, but worse than Bluehost. But that’s negligible, and I’m more than willing to overlook it. Plus, I had HostGator’s 99.9% uptime guarantee to back me up in case of the server being down for an extended period.

I’m satisfied with HostGator’s 448ms average response time, too. At first glance, you might not think that it’s impressive but remember that this is just a bare server – you can further accelerate your results with optimizations. Of course, note that all HostGator data centers are in the States, so you should see the best performance there.

In short, HostGator presents a very attractive option for cheap dedicated hosting with its budget-friendly prices, rich resources, and admirable performance.

5. A2 Hosting – unmanaged and managed dedicated hosting for top performance

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If you’re shopping for powerful managed servers that can offer top performance, A2 Hosting is a great option. The provider puts flexibility and control at the forefront with full root access and configuration options. Plus, it isn’t frugal when it comes to resources either – even with entry plans.

A2 Hosting introduces three dedicated hosting options. The cheapest one is Warp 1 Turbo and it offers services for $199.99/month. Here are the resources you get with this solution:

• 4 cores
• 16GB RAM
• 2 X 1TB SSD storage
• 6TB bandwidth

Additionally, you get to enjoy such features as Turbo servers that are perfect for high-traffic websites and apps that require fast response times​, 1TB of backup, Imunify 360 security suite, and free site migration.

If the entry dedicated hosting plan of A2 Hosting is not enough, you can choose Warp 2 Turbo ($279.99/month) or Warp 3 Turbo ($535.99/month). With the most expensive plan, you get 128GB of RAM and 15TB of bandwidth. Of course, compared to Bluehost and HostGator that offer unlimited bandwidth, this is somewhat restrictive.

Unlike Bluehost, A2 Hosting offers both unmanaged and managed dedicated hosting. While unmanaged hosting offers more control on the client side, managed hosting takes the burden of management off your shoulders with these perks:

• Full root access
• Webuzo 1-Click Software Installer
• NVMe storage options
• DDoS protection
• cPanel integration
• 24/7 support
• Daily updates
• Managed upgrades
• Security patches

If you’re familiar with how to configure and manage dedicated hosting servers, you can choose the unmanaged option from A2 Hosting. Managed servers are more expensive and don’t exactly fall into the category of cheap dedicated hosting. That said, in terms of managed dedicated hosting, this is a great, budget-conscious option.

A2 Hosting performance

During my tests, A2 Hosting performed the best among the providers on this list. After a month of monitoring, I can confirm that the provider maintains the uptime of 99.99% and has the fastest average response time of 246ms.

Throughout the entire month, my site suffered only one outage of 6 minutes. If you suffer longer downtime, A2’s 99.9% uptime guarantee ensures you’ll be compensated. This type of uptime is great for eCommerce and other large-traffic websites that require uninterrupted availability.

Just like Bluehost or InterServer, A2 Hosting stores its bare metal dedicated servers in the US. So, your audience from North America will be able to enjoy peak performance.

Overall, it’s easy to see why A2 Hosting remains the top pick for many. Not only does the provider demonstrate top-notch performance but also offers significant freedom when it comes to configuration and control.

Cheap dedicated server hosting compared

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How we tested cheap dedicated servers

To uncover the best cheap dedicated servers, I joined a team of experts to review 54 providers. We carefully assessed all options and eliminated providers that did not offer a good enough features-to-price balance. Once we picked the top 5 contenders, we performed in-house testing to determine which hosting providers are best in terms of performance, features, and, of course, pricing. After several days of testing, I had enough data to rank cheap dedicated servers accordingly. Here are the main criteria I used:

• Resources. Some hosting providers are able to offer very cheap services because they don’t come with many resources. When picking servers for this comprehensive list, I made sure to only include providers that offer enough RAM, SSD storage, CPU cores, and bandwidth to power a small business website without significant limitations.
• Performance. Because cheap servers are generally constricted by fewer resources, I made sure to select hosting providers that ensure great performance. First, I looked for sites with a generous uptime guarantee. Next, I tested each selected provider to see how they perform in real life. I specifically looked at how much downtime a test website experienced and what the average response time was.
• Features. Besides such basics as RAM, SSD storage, and bandwidth, I looked into extra features that hosting providers offer with their cheapest plans. Free website migration, free SSL certification, free storage, the number of dedicated IPs, DDoS protection, money-back guarantees, and other additional features helped me pick the best cheap dedicated servers.
• Ease of use. Since cheap hosting options are generally used by beginners or businesses that often don’t yet have enough resources to hire professionals, I looked into ease of use as well. It was important for me to pick hosting options that were not only affordable but also quick to set up and easy to use.
• Price. Needless to say, the benefit-cost ratio was one of the most important aspects when finalizing this list. Only providers that were able to offer great performance and services at an affordable price were included.

Cheap dedicated hosting: what to keep in mind?

When you’re looking for cheap server hosting, costs are important; however, it isn’t always about going with the smallest number. There are a few other factors at play which you should also consider to ensure that you’re getting the best deal. This includes unmanaged and managed servers, billing, and resources.

Expert comment

Aurelija Tomkevičiūtė

Tech copywriter and security expert

When considering different dedicated hosting providers, users often go for the cheapest option without fully comprehending what’s included in the package. Although there are plenty of great providers that offer all the basics you need at affordable prices, some of the cheapest options may prove to be quite disappointing.

I recommend, first and foremost, checking whether the hosting service is managed, semi-managed, or unmanaged – this will determine how much you will need to be involved in hosting your website. Second, always check what resources are included in the hosting package.

Overall, if you’re spending money on dedicated hosting, you want to do your due diligence and eliminate all the unknowns.

Unmanaged vs semi-managed vs managed dedicated hosting

One of the biggest questions you have to answer first is if you’d like to go with managed, semi-managed, or unmanaged dedicated hosting.

Unmanaged dedicated hosting

This is typically the cheapest option where you run the show. You have complete control and are responsible for server setup, maintenance, security configuration, operating system updates, and optimization.

The provider only covers the basics in that it only has to ensure that its infrastructure and hardware work, which explains its affordable price tag.

Unmanaged dedicated hosting would best suit advanced users with administration experience, those looking to tweak and customize the server, and those on a strict budget.

Semi-managed dedicated hosting

The middle ground between unmanaged and fully-managed hosting. The host will have to tackle basic tasks – operating system updates, essential security configuration, and troubleshooting hardware and software failures.

However, you’ll still have considerable freedom in customizing and managing your server. If you want to enjoy the flexibility of a dedicated server without all the mundane tasks, this is a good option for you.

Managed dedicated hosting

The provider assumes the responsibility for the management of the server. Depending on the provider, this could be an extensive list that includes a range of management tasks like server setup, performance optimization, software updates, backups, and troubleshooting.

Of course, with everything taken care of by the provider, managed dedicated hosting is rightfully in a higher pricing bracket. It could be a great investment for companies that prefer to direct their time, resources, and manpower on other business-focused aspects.

Since the host does the heavy-lifting, a managed server is also an excellent choice if you need dedicated hosting but don’t necessarily have the know-how or technical skills.

Naturally, if the provider’s involvement is heavier, you’ll have to shell out more – as is the case in managed dedicated hosting. So, take a moment and consider your skills and resources. Do you have the technical knowledge, time, and will to fully manage your server? Or would you prefer to pay the host more in return for convenience and professional help?

Billing

When you’re on the hunt for cheap dedicated hosting, bear in mind that pretty much all providers will offer a lower price if you subscribe for a longer period. A long-term or yearly contract is almost always going to be cheaper than if you go for a monthly contract.

For instance, Bluehost’s entry dedicated hosting plan costs $111.97/month if you opt for a 12-month billing period. But, if you commit to a 36-month contract, the price drops drastically to just $89.98/month.

No doubt, a 36-month subscription is quite a commitment. But, here’s the thing: if you’re looking at dedicated hosting for your site, chances are you’re in it for the long run. At least for the next few years.

If you’re afraid that the host won't live up to your expectation, a money-back guarantee will solve this problem. Be sure to check out each provider’s money-back guarantee, but generally you can expect a 30-day grace period.

Resources

Before you pounce on a dedicated hosting plan, take a moment to consider the server resources your site is going to need.

Cores

To put it simply, this is how powerful you want your server to be. More cores mean that your server can handle heavier tasks and run faster. Naturally, the price tag is also higher in that case.

If you usually run heavy and specialized applications, you’ll need about 4-8 cores.

RAM

This will determine the server’s efficiency, which in turn greatly affects the loading speed of your site. Most providers will cap their entry plans’ RAM at 4GB-8GB. That should be sufficient for most users.

However, a resource-intensive website will require more RAM. For instance, if you’re running mission-critical applications based on resource-intensive frameworks, you’ll definitely need more than 32GB of RAM. In that case, you’ll need an upgrade.

Storage

Just like the other resources, the general rule of thumb here is more is better. If, for example, you’re choosing to implement a dedicated server for your enterprise instead of cloud storage, ideally, you’ll need 1TB or more for storage. On the other hand, for a website, 256GB or 512GB will be more than enough.

Then, there’s the matter of the type of storage. A provider could offer either a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). Both will get the job done but SSD is the preferred option as it’s faster and more reliable than HDD. On the downside, it costs more.

Bandwidth

More is always better here, too. If your site has high traffic volume, you’ll absolutely need to go for more bandwidth. The same goes for websites housing HD photos, running scripts, or streaming multimedia content.

If your bandwidth is insufficient, you could run into multiple issues like crashes, bad user experience, high bounce rates, and loss of revenue.

Luckily, with bandwidth, you can estimate the required amount:

In any case, most providers are quite generous with bandwidth for dedicated hosting. The majority of websites should find the offerings sufficient – even with the cheapest plans.

Ultimately, there’s no point opting for a cheap dedicated hosting plan if it falls short of what you need. Instead, consider your skills, what you’re willing and able to pay, and the resources offered by the various providers before you make a decision.

Best cheap dedicated hosting: final recommendations

During extensive research and testing, I’ve concluded that the absolute cheapest dedicated hosting options are generally not conducive with great services. Therefore, I attempted to strike a balance and choose providers that offer both – affordable prices and great services.

Bluehost struck that ideal balance between affordability and performance. It showed great results during our tests and offers an impressive array of features to manage your site properly. While not the cheapest, it’s the best choice for maximizing dedicated hosting performance.

Best cheap dedicated hosting FAQs