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Alison DeNisco Rayome Managing Editor
Managing Editor Alison DeNisco Rayome joined CNET in 2019, and is a member of the Home team. She is a co-lead of the CNET Tips and We Do the Math series, and manages the Home Tips series, testing out new hacks for cooking, cleaning and tinkering with all of the gadgets and appliances in your house. Alison was previously an editor at TechRepublic.
Expertise Home Tips, including cooking, cleaning and appliances hacks Credentials
- National Silver Azbee Award for Impact/Investigative Journalism; National Gold Azbee Award for Online Single Topic Coverage by a Team; National Bronze Azbee Award for Web Feature Series
Dianna Gunn Web Hosting Expert
Dianna Gunn built her first WordPress website in 2008. Since then, she's poured thousands of hours into understanding how websites and online businesses work. She's shared what she's learned on blogs like ThemeIsle, BloggingPro and DomainWheel. She now works for CNET as a Web Hosting Expert, creating in-depth guides on web hosting and reviewing the top web hosting companies to help folks preparing to build a website for the first time.
Expertise Web Hosting, Online Business Management
To play Minecraft with friends in a world where everyone can jump on at any point, even if you aren't online, you need a dedicated Minecraft server. Millions of players do this all the time, as Minecraft is one of the most popular video games, but knowing what you should look for in a server for you and your friends may require extra research, which we have done here.
Using a dedicated server hosting provider for Minecraft is like using a web host. You pay a monthly fee to use a vendor's servers, which can provide you with improved security, performance and the ability to apply modpacks for customized multiplayer experiences.
Which Minecraft hosting service will best optimize your Minecraft gameplay? One option is Minecraft Realms, Mojang's official server subscription service (available for Java and Bedrock editions). If you want more back-end control over your server -- or modpacks and maps that aren't available in Realms -- you'll need a modded Minecraft server. In that case, you may opt for a third-party server host that can provide sufficient bandwidth and control over your Minecraft world seed's configuration and settings.
Below, we've reviewed some of the best Minecraft server hosting vendors, including Hostinger, Shockbyte and GGServers. We focused on service providers that offer 24/7 support and a variety of plan options.
CNET is in the process of updating our assessments of the best web hosting services. We periodically update this story to maintain accurate prices, but our overall rankings may change after we've been able to re-evaluate these services.
Read more: Best Web Hosting for 2024
Best Minecraft server hosting services
Hostinger has a TrustPilot rating of 4.6 out of 5, with more than 30,000 reviews. Hostinger also earned top marks in our hands-on Hostinger review, with excellent server performance and management tools. While our review process focuses on shared hosting for websites, it's safe to assume that you'll enjoy similarly excellent performance if you choose one of its Minecraft server hosting plans. Hostinger's Minecraft server plans also include mod support, DDoS -- distributed denial of service -- protection and automated backups.
Hostinger's most affordable Minecraft hosting plan starts at $5 a month for the first two years (renews at $14 a month) and includes 4GB of RAM, one vCPU core and 50GB of storage. The most expensive Hostinger Minecraft hosting plan starts at $20 a month for two years (renews at $100 a month) and includes 32GB of RAM, eight vCPU cores and 400GB. All of Hostinger's Minecraft servers use NVMe storage for faster, more reliable performance than the more standard SSD storage.
MCProHosting -- now merged with ApexHosting -- offers ten Minecraft server host plans. The most affordable option costs $6 a month for the first month and $8 a month afterward for 1.5GB RAM and 25 player slots. The most expensive plan starts at $80 for the first month and rises to $104 a month afterward for 32GB RAM and unlimited player slots. Every plan includes unlimited storage space, worldwide server locations and DDoS protection.
A big benefit of MCProHosting: You can try out any of their plans for free for the first month for a quarterly plan or four months for an annual plan.
MCProHosting was acquired by Flex Capital, a German company, and doesn't have a BBB page. It does have a TrustPilot rating of 4.8 out of 5 with almost 7,000 reviews.
Shockbyte is a game server provider, offering nine different Minecraft server hosting plan options, along with the ability to design a custom plan. Options range from $3 a month for 1GB RAM and 8 slots (the number of spaces on a game server available to players) to $48 a month for 16GB RAM and unlimited player slots. All plans include 100% uptime, DDoS protection, instant setup and a free subdomain name.
Shockbyte is based in Australia, so it does not have a BBB page. It does have a TrustPilot rating of 4.3 out of 5 with more than 9,000 reviews.
GGServers offers ten different Minecraft server hosting plans, each of which comes with the option for standard or premium (which doubles the price).
Standard plans offer DDR4 2133 MHz RAM, 3.2-4GHz CPU and 400MBps read/write SSD. It also costs an extra $2 a month to add on a MySQL database or unlimited slots. You don't get access to all nine server locations, either. Premium plans offer DDR4 2400 MHz RAM, 4.4-5GHz CPU, 2,500-plus MBps read/write SSD and include the MySQL database, unlimited slots and all nine server locations worldwide. Both plan types include a free subdomain, DDoS protection and instant activation. Standard plans range from $3 a month for 1,024MB RAM and 12 player slots for the standard setup (or $6 a month for the premium setup) to $96 a month for 32,768MB RAM for the standard setup (or $192 a month for the premium setup).
GGServers is based in Canada and does not have a BBB page, but it does have a TrustPilot rating of 4.5 out of 5 with more than 3,000 reviews.
ScalaCube is another game-specific server hosting vendor. There are nine paid plan options ranging from $2 a month for 768MB RAM, 2x3.4GHz CPU, 10GB SSD storage, 10 player slots and unlimited servers to $96 a month for 32GB RAM, 8x3.4GHz CPU, 320GB SSD storage, 600 player slots and unlimited servers. You'll also find Minecraft Pocket Edition server hosting options, ranging from $5 a month for a basic server to $96 a month for 600 players. All Minecraft and Minecraft Pocket Edition plans include multiple servers, backup, DDoS support and free web hosting, domain and MySQL.
ScalaCube is based in Estonia and does not have a BBB page. It has a TrustPilot rating of 4.3 out of 5 with almost 4,000 reviews.
Server specs and resource allocation
Your server needs to have enough resources to run your game smoothly for the number of players you want/expect to have in your server. There are three resource types to pay attention to here:
- Central Processing Unit or CPU - Minecraft relies primarily on the CPU to execute its instructions. The FPS -- Frames Per Second -- rate may be limited if the server's CPU isn't powerful enough. Ideal CPU power depends on the number of players you want to include. Requirements also vary based on the server's operating system.
- Random Access Memory or RAM - RAM determines response times, how much of the Minecraft environment you can load at once, and the number of players you can have before your server slows down. Heavy resource packs may also influence the amount of RAM you need. You'll require a minimum of 1GB of RAM for 1-4 players and 2GB for 5-10 players.
- Storage - This determines how much world information you can store and how many backups you can create. You'll need at least 2GB of empty space for 1-2 players and 10GB of empty space for 3-5 players.
Exact resource requirements vary based on the number of players you're going to host on your server, the operating system of your server and the resource packs you're using. There are many online resources, like the Minecraft Fandom site, where you can find information on the resources your server will need for your exact game setup. You can also reach out to customer service for any host you're considering to learn about the types of games their servers are capable of supporting.
Location
Your host should let you choose a data center close to your location to store your server on. This will improve loading speeds and ensure that your game runs smoothly. If you're running a game with international players, ask the host you're considering about the steps they take to ensure that the game will run smoothly for people in other locations.
Ease of use
Your Minecraft server host should provide an easy-to-use Control Panel where you can manage key aspects of your server.
Security
Your Minecraft server host should provide a firewall, DDoS protection and anti-virus software to keep your game secure and protect your players' data.
Customer service
Look for 24/7 customer service accessible via live chat and email. You may also want to choose a host with phone support.
It's important to note that we didn't explicitly "test" the Minecraft hosting provider options on this list. Instead, we compiled a competitive overview based on a variety of factors, including third-party ratings and features offered by each hosting company. We've also weighted the rankings of these businesses by the Better Business Bureau and TrustPilot. With that data in hand, we split them into two tiers:
Best Minecraft hosting providers (top tier): These Minecraft host vendors all have a rating of A or higher from the nonprofit Better Business Bureau (except in cases when the companies are based outside of North America and not included in the BBB ranking system) and a rating of 4.0 or higher out of 5 from TrustPilot, a Danish consumer review site. All of the TrustPilot rankings are based on at least 1,000 user reviews. All of the vendors listed in our top picks also say they offer 24/7 support and modpack support.
Other Minecraft hosting options to consider (second tier): All of these Minecraft host vendors have TrustPilot ratings of 4.0 or above; those ratings are based on fewer than 1,000 user reviews. Some have low ratings from the BBB that are worth taking a look at before making your decision or do not have a BBB page due to location.
Important caveats: The Better Business Bureau is not affiliated with any government agency and does not rate companies outside of North America. To be BBB Accredited, companies pay a fee to the organization. TrustPilot, meanwhile, also offers a paid tier that provides companies more interaction with their user ratings. It also removed 2.2 million fake reviews in 2020.
A note on pricing: We've made every effort to verify that the prices listed here were accurate at the time of last publication, but prices in this category are subject to frequent fluctuations and are also consistently subject to special offers and limited deals. Further, many of the prices listed here reflect the monthly rates if you prepay for 12 months of service or are limited-time introductory prices. Please check the vendors in question to verify pricing at any given time.
The following Minecraft server hosts have slightly lower or fewer TrustPilot and/or BBB ratings than the ones above.
Hostwinds
Another of our top web hosting site picks, Hostwinds also offers Minecraft server hosting starting at $5 a month. It has an A+ rating from the BBB and is BBB Accredited, and its TrustPilot rating is 4.0 out of 5, although it has fewer than 1,000 reviews. Hostwinds' Minecraft hosting starts at $5 a month for one CPU, 1GB of RAM and 30GB of storage.
BisectHosting
BisectHosting offers 25 different plans, each with an option for a budget or premium package. Budget packages start at $3 a month for 1GB RAM and unlimited NVMe SSD and go up to about $144 a month for 48GB RAM. Premium plans range from $8 a month to about $240 a month, with the same amounts of RAM as their budget counterparts but with more locations and free daily backups, modpack updates, sponge installation and a dedicated IP address. BisectHosting has a B- rating from the BBB, but it also has a TrustPilot rating of 4.7 out of 5 with almost 10,000 reviews.
Apex Hosting
Apex Hosting offers Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition servers starting at about $6 a month. It also includes a seven-day money-back guarantee. Apex Minecraft Hosting has an D- rating from the BBB, but its TrustPilot Rating is 4.2 out of 5. However, the TrustPilot rating is based on just over 600 reviews.
Nodecraft
Nodecraft also offers Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition server hosting, starting at around $10 a month. Nodecraft has a A+ rating from the BBB and a 4.3 out of 5 TrustPilot rating, with more than 1,000 reviews.
Sparked Host
Sparked Host offers game and cloud hosting, with 15 different Minecraft server hosting plan options, starting at less than $2 a month. Sparked Host has an A+ BBB rating and a TrustPilot rating of 4.6 out of 5 with more than 1,500 reviews.
PebbleHost
PebbleHost is home to both Minecraft and other gaming and dedicated servers. It offers budget, premium or extreme plans depending on your needs, starting at $1 per GB a month. PebbleHost is based in the UK and does not have a BBB page, but it has a TrustPilot rating of 4.7 out of 5 with more than 3,000 reviews.
RAMShard
RAMShard offers nine Minecraft server hosting plans, starting at $3 a month. It has an A+ BBB rating. RAMShard also has a TrustPilot rating of 4.0 out of 5 but with fewer than 500 reviews.
Former CNET editor Dawnthea Price Lisco contributed to this report.
What is the best Minecraft server host?
What is the best amount of RAM for a Minecraft server?
The amount of RAM you need for a Minecraft server depends on the number of players you'll have. You'll need 1GB for 1-4 players, 2GB for 5-10 players and more RAM for larger servers.
Is two CPU cores enough for a Minecraft server?
Two CPU cores may be enough to run a small Minecraft server. Many experts recommend using more cores, especially if you plan to have more than a few players on your server.
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