Writer: Laura Bernheim
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Cristian Lopez
We know, cheap dedicated server hosting sounds like an oxymoron. The top floor of the hosting high-rise is typically reserved for high-powered enterprises with large demands for bandwidth, data storage, and computing power. Just because you need extra oomph in your hardware, however, doesn’t mean you need to break open the piggy bank.
Dedicated servers are exactly what they sound like: The server’s entire resources are devoted to powering your site or application with the utmost performance, processing power, and storage. The important investment can pay dividends when you find hosting providers that bring the most value to their dedicated server packages.
While the word “cheap” needs to be taken with a grain of salt here, we’ve compiled the 10 best options for cheap dedicated hosting plans depending on your specific needs and budget.
1. Cheap Managed Dedicated Server
You’re going for premium hardware, why not go with premium support? Managed hosting goes beyond 24/7 technical support by configuring software, installing patches and updates, and maintaining all aspects of the environment. Managed hosts take care of all things infrastructure so you only have to focus on your business, website, or application.
Liquid Web offers three tiers of managed services, ranging from self-managed to fully managed, where technicians manage a customer’s hardware and web server and supply best-effort support for third-party software. Core-managed dedicated server plans cover server infrastructure, hardware, and core elements of the LAMP stack, while self-managed plans only cover the hardware and infrastructure.
LiquidWeb.com
Monthly Starting Price $36.00
- Best for non-WordPress managed hosting
- Fully managed VPS — OS updates, patches, and monitoring
- Verified faster than Rackspace, DigitalOcean, and AWS
- Choice of InterWorx, cPanel, or Plesk with Linux or Windows
- 100% uptime guarantee with DDoS protection & dedicated IP
- Trusted by 600,000+ customers including FedEx and Red Bull
- Get started on Liquid Web now.
Christina Lewis
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 30 GB SSD - 440 GB SSD | 1 - 6 cores | 1 GB - 16 GB |
2. Best All-In Value Dedicated Server
First off, there’s a major difference between affordable and valuable hosting services. We’re all about finding the best deals in web hosting — getting the most speed, security, and support for the lowest expense — rather than simply looking for the cheapest price tag (that usually comes with subpar services).
Incredibly, Bluehost somehow manages to achieve both milestones. With most decent dedicated server plans coming in at $100 per month or more, Bluehost plans start much lower.
The custom-built servers are available within seconds, featuring mirrored storage, around-the-clock U.S.-based support, and a surprisingly rare 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more here:
Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $144.19
- AMD EPYC processors, DDR5 RAM, and NVMe SSD on all plans
- RAID-1 storage mirroring and automated offsite backups
- DDoS protection >2 Tbps with Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
- Full root access with WHM/cPanel included
- 24/7 Tier 3 support — <30 second chat response time
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Sead Fadilpasic
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 1 TB – 3 TB NVMe | 8 - 32 cores | 32 – 128 GB DDR5 |
See other top dedicated hosts »
3. Cheap Unmanaged Dedicated Server
For experienced developers and site administrators, managed hosting services might be an unnecessary added expense. Unmanaged servers take time and technical expertise to maintain, leading many to argue that managed server hosting comes out ahead when your time is factored into the costs.
Most hosts offer at least some form of managed services, given that the hardware is living in its own facilities or datacenters. Even if the hosting provider insists on hardware and infrastructure management, they’re usually plenty willing to butt out of your web server if you ask nicely. There will be more pressure and demands on you to keep everything running smoothly and securely, but your host will continue offering technical support if you run into a jam.
Hosting.com strikes the perfect balance with its unmanaged dedicated servers, giving customers complete control over their hosting environment while not leaving them out in the cold. The company allows for full root access and oversight of all server settings, services, and accounts through cPanel and WHM control panels. In addition to around-the-clock server monitoring, hosting.com welcomes customers to call, chat, or email support agents any time, any day.
Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.99
- Root access and 3 levels of server management
- Expertly managed servers deployed instantly
- Choose from 4 data centers across 3 continents
- FREE redundant SSD storage in RAID-1 arrays
- Choice of 13 Linux operating systems
- Get started on hosting.com now.
Christina Lewis
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 1 TB SSD (RAID-1) | 4 - 16 cores | 16 GB - 256 GB |
See other top dedicated server hosts »
4. Cheapest Dedicated Server for Linux
Choosing between the Linux or Windows operating system for your server typically boils down to what you’re hosting and what languages or technology you need to support. As an open-source platform, Linux has a much broader range of support and flexibility — in fact, Linux is the L in the all-too-popular LAMP stack, followed by Apache, MySQL, and PHP, Perl, or Python.
As you’ll see in the cPanel section a little further down, Linux and cPanel tend to be the default hosting configuration providers make available. Popular providers InMotion Hosting and HostGator, for example, have gone all-in on Linux and don’t even offer a Windows plan. Likewise, Bluehost is an easy pick for top Linux hosting services.
When it comes to sheer affordability, however, InterServer again reigns supreme with its low-cost servers and month-to-month plans. Your hosting costs will never increase as you maintain the same services, making InterServer a fantastic option for budget-minded hosting consumers.
Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $144.19
- AMD EPYC processors, DDR5 RAM, and NVMe SSD on all plans
- RAID-1 storage mirroring and automated offsite backups
- DDoS protection >2 Tbps with Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
- Full root access with WHM/cPanel included
- 24/7 Tier 3 support — <30 second chat response time
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Sead Fadilpasic
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 1 TB – 3 TB NVMe | 8 - 32 cores | 32 – 128 GB DDR5 |
5. Cheapest Dedicated Server for Windows
Servers with the Windows operating system installed typically support only Windows or Microsoft-based technologies, including ASP.NET, MSSQL, MS Access, and Visual Basic. Windows is particularly useful for the gaming industry, in addition to other software and hardware compatibility. Windows can run on nearly any processor, while Linux is recommended to run with Intel processors. One thing to keep in mind as you shop for Windows hosting: The operating system chews through a lot of computing resources, so look for plans that don’t cut corners on RAM.
This one isn’t even close. Not only can InterServer wow customers with a $40-per-month server, but they will throw in five IP addresses, managed support, data migration, around-the-clock monitoring, and four-hour provisioning without any setup fees. The Intel Dual-Core Atom server is understandably small and low-powered when compared with InterServer’s other configurations, but having your choice of operating system and control panel makes the company an easy pick for an affordable dedicated Windows server hosting environment.
InterServer.net
Monthly Starting Price $78.00
- Privately owned datacenters in NYC, Dallas, and Los Angeles
- AMD EPYC, Ryzen, and Intel Xeon — 80+ configs available
- IPMI access, zero setup fees, and unmetered 1 Gbps
- InterShield w/ ML firewall, DDoS protection, malware cleanup
- Price-lock guarantee — rates never increase at renewal
- Get started on InterServer now.
Sead Fadilpasic
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 250 GB SSD - 80 TB HDD | 4 - 56 cores | 15 GB - 256 GB |
6. Cheap cPanel Dedicated Server
Once you have the hardware, your next big decision will be how to configure and manage the server. Although many dedicated plans give customers root access to fine-tune the details, most users opt for a hosting control panel, or a graphical interface that enables administrators to perform complex tasks with just a few clicks of the mouse. We’ve written the ultimate guide to comparing the various options, but the general rule of thumb is to use cPanel for Linux machines and Plesk for Windows accounts.
Given the popularity and affordability of the open-source Linux operating system, you’d be hard-pressed to find a hosting provider that doesn’t include cPanel. Where hosts can distinguish themselves, however, is by further optimizing the cPanel interface by customizing it to user needs and the host’s features.
That’s exactly why we recommend Bluehost — the highly regarded host took cPanel an extra mile so that customers can easily manage all of their websites, domains, emails, files, and computing resources from one central location. Instant provisioning and an open-source-friendly environment add to Bluehost’s perks, as does the company’s custom-designed database manager.
Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $144.19
- AMD EPYC processors, DDR5 RAM, and NVMe SSD on all plans
- RAID-1 storage mirroring and automated offsite backups
- DDoS protection >2 Tbps with Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
- Full root access with WHM/cPanel included
- 24/7 Tier 3 support — <30 second chat response time
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Sead Fadilpasic
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 1 TB – 3 TB NVMe | 8 - 32 cores | 32 – 128 GB DDR5 |
7. Cheap Plesk Dedicated Server
Even though Plesk is compatible with multiple operating systems, it’s most frequently paired with Windows hosting accounts. Plesk is generally cheaper than cPanel licenses, but the expenses of running Windows make the pair slightly harder to find. Both the Plesk and cPanel control panels are easy to operate. With familiar, simplistic layouts, site administrators can generally switch between the two platforms without much hassle.
Plesk uses the HTTPS protocol, offering a high level of security and unbeatable stability. Beyond Windows and Linux compatibility, Plesk supports several languages: English, German, Japanese, Spanish, French, and Russian.
That flexibility in supporting customers is mirrored in Liquid Web’s dedicated server plans. In addition to eight single- and dual-core processor configurations, the company’s Solutions Architects will work with customers to design a custom environment tailored to their website or application’s needs. Liquid Web offers Plesk in the fully managed Windows dedicated servers.
LiquidWeb.com
Monthly Starting Price $55.50
- Best for mission-critical sites needing fully managed dedicated hardware
- Save up to 50% for 2 months with this HostingAdvice offer
- Fully managed or self-managed — Linux or Windows
- PCI-ready environments with 99.99% uptime SLA
- cPanel, Plesk, or InterWorx — 24/7 Heroic Support® included
- Get started on Liquid Web now.
Christina Lewis
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 383 GB SSD – 3.2 TB SSD | 4 - 32 cores | 12 GB - 192 GB |
8. Affordable Dedicated Server with Free SSDs
Solid-state drives, or SSDs, are the cherry on top of a powerful hosting sundae. SSDs refer to the type of disk in the server that stores your data. Hard-disk drives, or HDDs, are the traditional option that have been around for 60-some years and feature a spinning platter and a read/write arm that uses magnetism to store the data. SSDs, however, have no moving parts and instead house information in flash microchips. SSDs are much faster, but the newer technology means the drives are more expensive and typically come with smaller capacities. That’s why many web hosting providers include SSDs as a paid upgrade or as part of a more expensive plan.
SSDs are just one of the perks Liquid Web includes in dedicated server hosting packages. In addition to a 100% uptime guarantee, the top-notch provider tosses in CloudFlare CDN, 24/7 Sonar monitoring, DDoS protection, and ServerSecure security and hardening.
When it comes to anything regarding SSDs, however, InMotion Hosting is always near the top of our list. The hosting provider deploys SSD storage in 500GB increments and trumpets 20-times faster performance using the advanced hardware.
InMotionHosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $35.00
- Best for businesses needing enterprise hardware with managed support
- Bare-metal or fully managed dedicated servers from $35/mo
- Intel Xeon to AMD EPYC, up to 16 cores and 192 GB DDR5 RAM
- Monarx security & 500 GB backup storage with Premier Care
- 24/7 Advanced Product Support from senior sysadmins
- 99.99% uptime SLA, up to 10 Gbps unmetered bandwidth
- Get started on InMotion now.
Dave McQuilling
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 960 GB SSD – 7.68 TB NVMe | 4 - 16 cores | 16 GB – 192 GB DDR5 |
9. Cheapest Dedicated Server with Unlimited Bandwidth
Even though many of our favorite shared hosting providers tout unlimited bandwidth or data transfers for free, the feature is surprisingly hard to find at the dedicated server level. Unlimited anything in the hosting world is a bit of an illusion, given that hardware can only process and store so much data.
While most hosts offer between 5TB and 15TB of bandwidth, which is plenty sufficient for most customers, HostGator scales its dedicated plan all the way to 25TB of data transferred between your site, visitors, and the internet. Hosting.com offers unlimited storage and bandwidth on what the company calls a semi-dedicated server, which is basically a souped-up and more expensive shared plan for those who need more resources but aren’t quite ready to take the leap to dedicated servers.
One of the few hosting providers that provides dedicated server plans with an unmetered traffic option, Hostwinds won’t restrict or throttle bandwidth for popular websites that are willing to pay for the perk. Regardless of the amount of data used by or downloaded from your dedicated server, Hostwinds guarantees up to 1Gbit-per-second speed on all traffic.
Hostwinds.com
Monthly Starting Price $122.00
- Highly configurable servers with a choice between Windows or Linux
- Fully managed support and nightly backups
- SAS Type II and Tier 4 datacenters
- 99.999% uptime guarantee and DDoS protection
- 1-hour hardware replacement
- Get started on Hostwinds now.
Jack Wallen
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 120 GB SSD - 12 TB HDD | 4 - 16 cores, 8 - 20 threads | 8 GB - 32 GB |
See other top dedicated server hosts »
HostingAdvice Visitors Get the Best Deals on Servers (Up to 70% Off)
Taking the plunge into dedicated server hosting can be an expensive endeavor. With a little bit of research and reading, however, we’re confident you’ll find a hosting provider and plan that matches features and functionality with your budget.
Fortunately, many hosts allow us to offer discounts to our readers as a reward for doing their homework. HostingAdvice readers can simply click the button above to enjoy Bluehost’s half-price dedicated server hosting.
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