So I’ve been using virtual and cloud services for some time now - since around 2018 - and I’ve been through a number of them. Within everything that I’ve done, I’d like to present 3 providers as potential options.
They are listed above in order of age - not quality of service. I’d like to also mention that what will be shown here is my experience with each and my opinion on them.
HETZNER
They’re the oldest and probably the most talked about online in various forums. The services they offer go for a great price and you get top-notch hardware. Support answers fairly quickly and they’re very helpful.
LIKES
- Good hardware.
- Good pricing.
- Good support.
- Great documentation.
- Unmetered traffic (depending on service).
- Dedicated instances (WireGuard/RustDesk/Etc).
DISLIKES
- Network issues at times.
- Blacklisted by Plex.
- No VNC on auctioned server.
- KVM doesn’t seem to work.
My personal experience was with an auctioned server that I set up Windows on. Was working quite fine and then suddenly went offline. Tried to get help from support and even sent them videos but no luck. Had no choice but to cancel with them.
I’ll assume - from what I’ve seen - that they will work great with Linux deployments. The blacklisting by Plex makes it a challenge if that’s your primary media server platform.
I tried their KVM and it’s never worked for me. Works fine on their side though - but that doesn’t help me much.
One of the best available options would be their dedicated instances. You can get a RustDesk server for about USD$4 per month for example.
CONTABO
They’re the second oldest and they have a better back-end control panel for each platform IMO. They’re the one I’ve been with the longest, but I did have to move my web hosting from them due to issues with InvoiceNinja and little to no supoprt on that. Overall, they’re the best medium where it comes to price and performance - when it works.
LIKES
- Great bang for buck - best price for specs IMO.
- 32TB data per month.
- Direct number for support - no IVR.
- Discounts available to both new and old customers.
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- Discounts can lead to paying less for an existing service.
DISLIKES
- Support takes a while to respond at times.
- Last attempts to call (2024-04) resulted in no answer or always busy.
- Software on web hosting platforms not always properly supported.
- Initial setup times sometimes extend beyond typical listed times.
The fact that I still have services with them in the face of all the dislikes just shows how great the services are. The customer support has fallen off greatly in recent times, and I really wish that would get addressed. I will admit that previously I’ve been able to call and get through and email replies were usually within 24 hours - now I’ve seen delays of 4+ days for a reply. If things don’t improve, my next move would be to MyHost.
MYHOST
This is the youngest one on the list but also one with an interesting website.
That is something that I found to be true. Even before I had services with them - the response was very quick. Not as fast as Hetzner but faster than Contabo - which puts the customer service high in my POV.
LIKES
- Great products at a fair price - not as cheap as the others but still pretty good.
- Fast response times.
- Great panel for quick service upgrades.
- KVM options.
- VNC from customer panel.
- Unmetered traffic.
DISLIKES
- Pricing a bit higher than others.
I have very little to say against MyHost. They reply quickly - they set up quickly - the control panels work. The only off-putting thing is the price versus the others. If the service works though, the price being a bit higher than the competition is a small price to pay. Limited down-times with fairly quick support replies makes this a great choice for your needs.
Overall - whichever you choose based on your needs should be a great pick. Just remember that there are other options should you have issues with any one in particular.