Best Minecraft Server Hosting (Including Free Options)

If you’re looking for the best Minecraft server hosting to host some games with your friends, you’ve come to the right place!

However, with so many hosting companies offering cheap Minecraft hosting, it can be difficult to find a good deal that also offers everything you need for reliable gameplay.

But don’t give up yet. We are here to confirm that there are good Minecraft hosts out there that offer a rich feature set and powerful technology at an affordable price. And in many cases, all you have to do is sign up for the service and the host will do the rest.

In this article, we present the best Minecraft server hosting options that are suitable for every budget. We even share the fine details about technology stacks, support, and control panels so you know exactly what to look for before making a commitment.

Ready? Let’s start!

How Do I Find the Best Minecraft Server Hosting?

If you’re a new Minecraft admin, you’re probably itching to find out how much it costs to buy a Minecraft server. Well, I’m happy to report that Minecraft server hosting offers a wide range when it comes to price. But I would also say that finding cheap Minecraft hosting can be a trap.

Because many hosting companies see the popularity of Minecraft as a way to make big bucks from too good, to be true, cheap Minecraft hosting that can barely handle small maps, let alone large groups of players. Avoiding these bad guys is made incredibly difficult by the number of variables that need to be considered for Minecraft hosting. Let’s take RAM as an example to start with.

For crash-free gaming, you should have at least 75MB of RAM for each player. Depending on the quality, plugins can be more demanding, so allocate around 100MB for each. If you plan to run a modded Minecraft server, simple rules won’t be of much help. Take the CrazyCraft mods for example, they each require at least 2GB of RAM, while some of FTB’s most popular modpacks require 4GB of RAM before you can even add a player to your server.

Sounds like a lot, right? Sort of, but if you break it down, a 2GB server with a good processor could easily host 10 players, with plenty of room for well-chosen plugins. And it’s pretty easy to find cheap Minecraft hosting with 2GB and good processors. Heck, you’ll even find free Minecraft server hosting that offers around 2GB of RAM.

But that’s just the memory. What else do we think is important for hosting Minecraft servers?

• A Single core processor with high clock speed. Ideally, your Minecraft host offers AMD Ryzen or Intel i7/i9.
• Instant setup and quick deployment help you get straight to the game and avoid some of the complicated configurations.
• Availability and Support are the key to the success of your server. Let’s be fair, things are likely to go wrong, but some hosts handle it better than others. Explore support options and join Discord chats to see how the host handles their support requests and communicates with users.
• mods and plugins should be easy to install, preferably via a customized control panel. Some panels can be slow and unresponsive, so try out some control panel demos before committing.
• Multiple data centers, or at least servers located close to your players to ensure the fastest connections and lowest latency. Great to have: a host you can easily switch locations with.
• Free Minecraft Server Hosting can be used but not used. You have to make compromises on the number of slots, plugins, performance and reliability. Additionally, most free Minecraft hosts are keen to upgrade you to paid plans, have long queues, and bombard you with ads.

The best Minecraft server hosting for every type of user

Now that we’ve covered the essentials, let’s look at six of the best hosts that offer good Minecraft servers for all game types and player abilities.

Bisect hosting

Best Minecraft Server Hosting

If you ask people about the best Minecraft server hosting, someone will mention Bisect hosting. Guaranteed and with good reason. With a range of budget and premium plans, they offer affordable options that suit both novice and advanced admins. Not only that, the sign-up wizard will help you find the best server according to the required slots and the expected number of plugins.

With truly global coverage, Bisect Hosting offers the best place to rent a Minecraft server for fast connections and low latency for people outside of popular hubs. It doesn’t even cost you extra to buy a Minecraft server located outside of North America and Europe. Other than similar pricing, each site comes with the same standard features, including Xeon processors, instant setup, full FTP access, unlimited SSD storage, and more.

They provide support for all modpacks, plans for Bedrock and Java editions of Minecraft with a customized Multicraft panel to simplify game management. Taken together, these options make Bisect Hosting hard to miss for anyone looking for the ultimate Minecraft experience.

⚙️ Features:

• Free migration service.
• Support for custom JARs on all servers.
• Free subdomain.
• Free MySQL.

💵 Pricing: Bisect Hosting offers two tiers of Minecraft servers. How much your Minecraft server will cost depends on whether you need the premium options like daily backups, unlimited slots, free sponge and modpack installation. For a 2GB premium plan, you pay $9.98/month and each additional GB of RAM adds $4.99 to your monthly spend.

If you don’t need the extra features, the budget plans start at $5.98/month for 2GB and 24 slots. For additional RAM, add $2.99 ​​per GB. However, some modpacks come with additional fees, so check the final price carefully and consider a premium plan if necessary.

You can get a refund within the first 72 hours of purchase.

host havoc

Best Vanilla Minecraft Server Hosting

Host Havoc has over eight years of hosting experience and is known for offering variety in their hosting options. Each plan is backed by high-performance technology such as Xeon or Ryzen processors, giving you a good chance of consistent server performance across numerous jars, modpacks, and plugins.

Unfortunately, nothing can guarantee a bug-free experience, but Host Havoc’s support team is made up of passionate gamers with proven experience handling a range of server configurations. Add in some of the best response times in the industry and you know you’re in safe hands.

With instantly activated servers and fast deployment, Host Havoc offers the easiest path to gameplay for beginners. However, they use a customized version of the Multicraft control panel, and not all modpacks have one-click install options. While this means there are a few hurdles to overcome before you can create your modded Minecraft server, their knowledge base is clear and makes using FTP a quick process.

Finally, they also offer some useful free extras like monetization plugin, Tebex, and game change anytime.

⚙️ Features:

• Free migration service.
• Scheduled Backups.
• Dedicated IP is free at higher tiers ($4.15/month at the lower end).
• Each plan comes with a slot recommendation depending on whether you are running a modded Minecraft server or a vanilla Minecraft server.

💵 Pricing: They charge $5 per 1GB with discounts for long-term plans. I’d recommend starting with the Wood plan, which will cost you $10 for 2GB.

Host Havoc offers a 72-hour refund policy on the first purchase only.

Bloom.Host

Best Modded Minecraft Server Hosting

Bloom.Host is one of the youngest Minecraft server hosts, but their dedicated server setups place them at the top of any Minecraft hosting discussion. Granted, it helps that they only offer game servers for Minecraft, but that gives them the freedom to offer a variety of unique features that you’ll find useful right away.

For one, you should check out the bespoke control panel – Duck Panel. Not only is it incredibly fast, but it also makes everything easy. Let’s take server splitting as an example. You effectively have a quick setup for up to ten subservers with additional Minecraft configurations. There is no better way to quickly switch between dedicated configurations for Java or Bedrock without significant downtime. All mods can be installed on subservers with a single click, and you have support for all popular jars like Spigot and Fabric. To me, that certainly puts them in line with other leading mod minecraft servers.

But that comes at a price. Currently, they don’t offer global data centers like you’ll find elsewhere. You have to choose between the USA, Virginia or Texas and Germany.

On the other hand, they have the technology stack to make it work. All of their plans run at least Ryzen 9 3900/5950X, which can be clocked at 4.7GHz, and NVMe SSD storage (starting at 120GB). And I also like that they only offer plans with 8GB RAM and up. The truth is that you’ll be able to run some great games with its basic setup. If anything goes wrong they have a growing knowledge base with helpful support available via tickets and discord.

⚙️ Features:

• Unlimited bandwidth.
• Free custom backup solution with customized file and folder recovery.
• Migration tools to import servers and databases with just a few clicks.
• Free dedicated IP and reverse proxy available with every plan.

💵 Pricing: Since there are no discounts for committing to the quarterly or semi-annual plan, the monthly option is a great way to test them out.

Performance plans start at $16/month for 8GB RAM and 120GB storage. Prices increase from $8/month for 4GB RAM and 60GB storage to $48/month for 24GB RAM and 360GB storage.

They also offer a Performance Plus plan with the amazing Ryzen 9 5950X. For only $22/month you can buy a Minecraft server with 8GB of RAM and 150GB of storage. Prices increase by $11 per 4GB and 75GB storage.

The refund policy is 72 hours, but you can only get one no matter how long you use the service.

vulture

Best Custom Minecraft Server

I’ll be honest this was a tough decision and space could go to two or three VPS providers. Ultimately, however, I feel that Vultr strikes the best balance between usability and performance. Minecraft, which is in the Marketplace apps list alongside traditional plans like WordPress, allows you to spin up really good Minecraft servers in minutes.

While setting up a vanilla Minecraft server is incredibly easy, there’s no one-click process for setting up Spigot, Paper, and so on. On the plus side, Vultr offers an enviable knowledge base full of easy-to-follow guides to getting a modded Minecraft server up and running. You can even follow their guide to setting up BufferPanel, which gives you out-of-the-box support for Sponge, Forge, and more.

When it comes to infrastructure, Vultr relies almost exclusively on Intel CPUs. In their cloud computing plans, they use Xeon processors with clock speeds in excess of 3 GHz. However, DDoS protection is only available in certain locations for $10 per month, so you need to develop your security skills.

⚙️ Features:

• No limits to what you can do with mods, plugins and customizations.
• Windows servers are available.
• 17 global data centers including Sydney, Singapore and Tokyo.
• Full SSH access.

💵 Pricing: For a cloud instance with two Intel CPUs with high core speed and 2 GB RAM, you pay at most $20/month. After that, prices increase by $5 per 1GB of RAM.

Vultr charges you for what you use and they have a strict no-refund policy.

GTX gaming

Best Minecraft Server Hosting for Global Reach

No list of good Minecraft hosting options could skip the OG of Minecraft hosting, GTXGaming. With worldwide coverage on instant setup servers, they offer a solid option for anyone looking for an easy entry point into the world of Minecraft server hosting.

Server configuration is done using drop-down menus for key items like server locations, memory, clock speeds, and disk space. Similarly, the bespoke controls page facilitates game management with sliders, dropdowns, and one-click install for Craftbukkit and Spigot via the dedicated mod manager.

Finally, GTXGaming offers an evolving tech stack with the arrival of AMD Ryzens gaining momentum. In most cases, the base CPU clock speed of 3.8 GHz is sufficient, but you can pay for better processors if you need them.

With a professional support team, you won’t have any trouble taking advantage of special offers like free game switching to any popular game on their extensive list (over 150, including Minecraft Bedrock).

⚙️ Features:

• Built-in donation system with PayPal.
• Full FTP support.
• DDoS protection for companies.
• 18 data centers on all continents.
• Full daily backups.

💵 Pricing: GTXGaming offers a number of different RAM and slot options for 3.8GHz Minecraft server hosting:

• Server 2GB/30 slots – $9.21/month.
• 3GB/40 slots starts at $12.75/month.
• 6GB/80 slots available from $20.55/month.
• 8GB/100 slots is $26.22/month.

In addition to these options, you can also opt for priority support ($2.82/mo), higher CPU priority (starting at $7.07/mo), increased clock speed (4.4 GHz for $7.07/mo), and NVMe – Storage ($7.07/month) opt. .

GTXGaming has a 24 hour refund policy on everything except dedicated servers.

Bonus: Aternos

Best Free Minecraft Server Hosting

If you want to play Minecraft cheaply, then Aternos is as cheap as can be. With over eight years of providing free forever plans, it represents the best free Minecraft hosting available today. While you’d expect some limitations, Aternos manages to pack enough customizability into its offering to give you entertaining games at an unbeatable price.

But what exactly are the limitations? Well, ads for one. But even that has a positive twist. With their effective ads, Aternos is able to run its servers with no hidden costs or paid upgrades. However, slots are limited to a generous number – 20, and someone needs to be online if you want the server running. There are also limitations with plugins and modpacks.

However, if the server stops, you can enable automatic backups on each server, which will be stored on Google Drive. They even have DDoS protection and a one-click game management panel. All of this comes with around 2GB of RAM on a shared core.

⚙️ Features:

• Full catalog of games including Minecraft Java and Bedrock editions.
• A good amount of mods and plugins to enable modded servers for free.
• Drag and drop upload for Bedrock.
• Excellent support for a free product with clear downtime warnings.

💵 Pricing: Completely free.

Who Offers the Best Minecraft Server Hosting?

Of course, your final decision will be determined by your specific needs and preferences. But if we had to choose, then we would suggest:

• Bisect hosting is our top pick for casual gamers looking for an easy way to set up a game with a variety of mods and plugins.
• Bloom.Host or vulture are the best options for advanced gamers who want to host big games.