Best free Minecraft hosting services in 2025
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To dive into the adventurous world of Minecraft, first, you need a server hosting provider that will do a good job. And finding a good free Minecraft server hosting can be tricky, as there are quite a few things to consider.
A reliable Minecraft dedicated server hosting provider can give you the right conditions to get started, find a community to connect with, and offer game modifications that will help enrich your Minecraft experience.
To find out what is the best free Minecraft server hosting, continue reading and have a look at my top 5 chosen providers.
What is Minecraft server hosting?
Minecraft server hosting means renting a dedicated server from a provider to cater to your Minecraft gaming needs and connecting with players worldwide. It lets you choose a desired game version and mode and add additional features to personalize the players’ experience. Good Minecraft server hosting ensures minimal lag and good performance.
While regular hosting is more aimed at the general application of web hosting, Minecraft hosting is tailored to the specific needs required to run the game. For example, regular hosting provides resources fit for hosting data, files and websites, such as storage, CPU, RAM, and bandwidth. Minecraft server hosting is configured for specific Minecraft game needs, like higher CPU performance, larger amount of RAM, and handling player connections.
Free Minecraft hosting providers: shortlist by Cybernews
- Hostinger – overall best free server host for Minecraft
- Liquid Web – Minecraft hosting with good scalability
- InMotion Hosting – easy-setup Minecraft server hosting
- Aternos – free-of-charge Minecraft hosting
- Minehut – community-based Minecraft hosting
What is the best free Minecraft server hosting: detailed list
To find the best free Minecraft server hosting, together with our research team, I have reviewed 58 providers. After assessing their performance, security, customization, and support availability, I made a list of top 5 free Minecraft server hosting providers.
1. Hostinger – Minecraft server host with the most server modification freedom
| Uptime guarantee: | 99.9% |
| Backups: | Automatic |
| Free trial: | No free trial |
| Money back guarantee: | 30 days |
Hostinger is undoubtedly the best free Minecraft server host on my list, as it offers the most customization, best performance, and doesn’t compromise on security. What really impressed me about Hostinger was how much freedom I get as a user to modify the server. Since Minecraft hosting is done on a self-managed VPS server with full root access, the user can choose from a variety of server types – from Craftbukkit, requiring no modification, to the ones supporting mods, like Forge.
Hostinger’s Minecraft server hosting enables unlimited player slots, more premium plans allow you to customize the game by installing various plugins and mods. And 99.9% uptime guarantee, industry recognized NVMe SSD storage, and AMD EPYC processors will ensure top performance.
Additionally, Hostinger will ensure safety. You will be given a dedicated IP address, access to global server locations, a built-in firewall, and DDoS protection. If anything happens, data can be easily restored using automatic backup.
While Minecraft hosting services on Hostinger are not entirely free, you can enjoy any of its plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you’re happy with Hostinger, you can select one of 4 plans with a starting price of $4.49/month.
It’s worth mentioning that Hostinger does a great job not only at Minecraft hosting. Hostinger is ranked among the top hosting providers in general. To learn more, read our Hostinger review.
2. Liquid Web – Minecraft hosting with easy resource expansion
| Uptime guarantee: | 100% |
| Backups: | Automatic |
| Free trial: | No free trial |
| Money back guarantee: | 30 days |
Liquid Web is another reputable Minecraft server hosting provider. It’s second to Hostinger only and stands out with its easy resource expansion.
Much like Hostinger, Liquid Web has Minecraft VPS hosting that gives its user full control over the game’s settings, mods, and plugins. Liquid Web offers 4 plans suitable for Minecraft hosting, that can be easily expanded for more RAM and CPU to support larger builds with extra plugins and more players. A dedicated VPS server and 100% uptime guarantee ensures consistent performance minimizing lag for complex redstone setups and populated biomes.
Lastly, all the plans come with standard DDoS protection, root access, and IP address. Liquid Web doesn’t have a free trial, but it gives an opportunity to try any of its plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The starting price of Minecraft hosting on Liquid Web is $5.00/month.
To learn more, you can read our Liquid Web review.
3. InMotion Hosting – Minecraft server hosting with quick setup
| Uptime guarantee: | 99.9% |
| Backups: | Manual |
| Free trial: | No free trial |
| Money back guarantee: | 7 days |
Due to its hassle-free setup, InMotion is an excellent choice for users that are inexperienced in Minecraft server hosting. InMotion has the biggest selection of plans, so everyone can find what they are looking for. All 8 plans that InMotion offers have quick and easy setup, support for JAVA and Bedrock editions, DDoS protection, 24/7 server support, and unlimited player slots already included.
Other perks of hosting with InMotion are dedicated IP address, fast NVMe SSD storage, and full file access, including FTP and MySQL databases. The service also guarantees 99.9% uptime.
Unfortunately, the biggest InMotion downsides are short money-back guarantee and pricey hardware-rich plans. Besides, the cheapest plan ($4.49/month) doesn’t support all plugins and isn’t recommended for modpacks. That’s why InMotion doesn’t compare to Hostinger that offers better value for money.
More information available in our InMotion review.
4. Aternos – no-costs Minecraft server hosting
| Uptime guarantee: | None |
| Backups: | Automatic |
| Free trial: | Yes |
| Money back guarantee: | None |
Aternos is the sole provider on my list that offers Minecraft server hosting completely free of charge. And it has quite a robust service to offer for its users. Unlike Minehut, Aternos is more concerned with safety of the servers, offering DDoS protection and automatic updates.
Aternos also allows full customization of the server by installing mods or uploading custom content, making users’ Minecraft experience truly their own. Other great features that Aternos offers are unlimited number of players and real-time server console.
While Aternos is a really good free Minecraft server hosting provider, since it’s a completely free service it uses in-game ads to fund its activity. Also, no specific information about RAM or general storage is available. Therefore, as with Minehut, it’s also useful to carefully read Aternos’ terms of service. Lastly, Aternos’ servers are based in Europe, so users in other regions can experience high ping, affecting gameplay.
5. Minehut – Minecraft hosting with a strong community
| Uptime guarantee: | None |
| Backups: | Manual |
| Free trial: | Yes |
| Money back guarantee: | None |
Minehut is an online platform dedicated to Minecraft server hosting with a big emphasis on community. The platform offers public servers that serve as a social space for users to interact with other players and share server creations.
Minehut also has extensive support for plugins, including the ones from Bukkit and Spigot. These allow players to customize their servers by adding commands, gameplay mechanics, and mini-games. Besides, it has a free plan. However, it comes with considerable limitations – only 1GB RAM, basic performance, and 4 hours per day limit. Fortunately, performance can be increased by upgrading to paid plans.
As with most free services, Minhut also has some shortcomings. There are no uptime and latency guarantees, no DDoS protection, and there’s limited information about the services. For this reason, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with Minehut’s terms of service. Lastly, Minehut’s servers are exclusively located in the US, making the service susceptible to high ping for users outside the US.
Best free Minecraft server hosting comparison
| Brand | Rating | Starting price | Free plan | Uptime guarantee | Backups | DDoS protection |
| Hostinger | 4.9 | From $4.49/month | 30-day money-back guarantee | 99.9% | Automatic | ✅ Yes |
| Liquid Web | 4.4 | From $5.00/month | 30-day money-back guarantee | 100% | Automatic | ✅ Yes |
| InMotion | 4.3 | From $4.49/month | 7-day money-back guarantee | 99.9% | Manual | ✅ Yes |
| Aternos | 3.5 | Free | ✅Yes | No uptime guarantee | Automatic | ✅ Yes |
| Minehut | 3.4 | From 600 credits/month | ✅Yes | No uptime guarantee | Manual | ❌ No |
How do we test and rank the best free Minecraft hosting providers
At Cybernews, we follow a meticulous testing process that allows us to rank providers without bias. You can learn more about our process on how we test web hosting page.
To find the best free Minecraft server hosting, I used the following criteria to base my evaluation on:
- Performance (30%). I looked for providers that offered a good amount of RAM, enough CPU cores, and good uptime to ensure quality performance.
- Security (30%). I looked into how providers protect data and what safety measures they are using to prevent cyberattacks.
- Customization (25%). I compared customization options for each provider to select the ones that give the most freedom to personalize the user's experience.
- Support (15%). I checked if hosting providers had customer support to reach out to in case of technical issues.
As a result, I put together a list of providers and ranked them from 1 to 5, depending on how well they performed on all of these aspects.
Is a free Minecraft host safe and reliable for long-term gameplay?
As tempting as free services are, caution is always a good practice. It’s common that free services have hidden aspects that involve your safety and privacy. Since such providers often sell your data to third parties and can be an easier target for cyberattacks, investing in a service provider that holds security its top priority might be worth more than the joy of free Minecraft hosting.
Besides, paid providers are more reliable for long-term gameplay as they can ensure stable server performance without restrictions on CPU and minimum amount of RAM that impact gameplay. Also, we don’t recommend compromising on security. Not picking a provider that has proven security measures puts you at risk of cyberattacks. Often, cyberattacks have serious consequences, such as financial losses and unauthorized access to your accounts that can negatively impact your online reputation.
Factors to consider before choosing the top free Minecraft server
Before choosing the best free Minecraft server, there are several key factors to consider:
- Performance. A good and reliable provider will help you avoid lag and keep interruptions to a minimum.
- Security. Managing your own Minecraft server means that you’re on your own when it comes to security and privacy. A reputable hosting provider will help you prevent related risks.
- Customization. The ideal Minecraft server will ensure you get the most of your Minecraft experience, making it as personal as possible.
- Support. In moments of need, having access to support for technical problems with servers is crucial.
My recommended top providers, Hostinger and Liquid Web, will let you have it all.
Final word
With Minecraft's popularity keeping its highs, hosting providers are working on offering the best Minecraft server hosting for its potential customers. While the market has more than one reputable name, only a few providers have dedicated game servers.
That’s why Hostinger is a clear winner when it comes to the best free Minecraft server hosting. It not only has a dedicated server but also a dedicated gaming panel that allows instant and easy setup. While Hostinger is not entirely free, I recommend choosing a paid provider with a money-back guarantee as it will give you more storage and ensure better performance and safety compared to free hosting providers.
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