When creating a VPS comparison page there is a decision of who to include and who not to include. On the one hand you want to give users enough choices where they can select a VPS plan that perfectly fits their needs. This includes price as well as specifications.
On the other hand you do not want to overwhelm the user with too many choices, low quality providers, or too many providers offering almost identical plans.
We included six providers on our list. Six is a good number. Its enough to offer a distinction between larger and smaller companies as well as give enough plans that most people will find the VPS plan that works best for them. At the same time, six providers are few enough that a choice can be made fairly quickly and painlessly. Most importantly, a small number of top VPS providers ensures that only those of the highest quality are included.
If the comparison list included twenty or more providers there would be no way to know which are actually high quality VPS providers and which should be avoided. A small number of top end providers just makes the decision easier. The user does not have to scour the Internet looking for reviews and comparisons of each provider. By looking at only six providers the user is guaranteed to receive high quality service, no matter which plan or provider they choose.
It’s actually fairly hard to find an unbiased comparison of webhosts and VPS providers. Most forums are dominated by employees of hosting provider sites and many review websites are paid advertising fees by those that they review. There are however forums and sites such as Reddit which have a user-base active enough that one can get solid honest reviews without any bias. From these reviews and our own experiences we chose the following six providers to include in our list:
Linode
If you ever see a site talking about top VPS providers and they do not mention Linode, get out of there as quickly as you can. They are obviously not being honest. Any talk of VPS providers starts with Linode. They are one of the oldest VPS providers around and tend to be the company that others are compared to. They have set the standard.
That being said, because they are so established, they do not have to be as competitive in terms of price as the other providers on this list. Generally you will get more bang for your buck by going to one of the other providers on this list.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is likely to be the second largest provider on this list. They are often compared to Linode and there are a ton of independent reviews pitting these two companies against each other.
DigitalOcean is younger of the two, but when it appeared, it offered cheaper pricing. It was an industry innovator in providing SSD hard-drives and has constantly set to improve their offerings. They have forced others to stay competitive simply by providing new and innovative offerings and low prices.
Vultr
Vultr is the new kid on the block that everyone is talking about. Its competitive pricing is directly targeting DigitalOcean and Linode customers. From the low end $5/month or the high end 64GB RAM VPS boxes, Vultr is directly taking on the old more established VPS providers. It is doing so by offering more computing power for less money and top of the line support to boot!
Vultr also provides VPS boxes in a larger number of countries. The next VPS that we order is likely to be from Vultr. The amount that they offer for their prices simply makes them a great deal.
RamNode
RamNode has come to be one of the most popular VPS providers in what has seemed like a short period of time. They have soared in popularity with consumers who do not need high end VPS services. RamNode competes both in terms of pricing and quality, but specifically focusing on lower end boxes. A low end VPS is one which has less power; less RAM, HDD, etc. These low end VPS boxes are much cheaper (starting at $1.25/month) and are great for hobbyists, those looking to serve a small website, or amateur developers.
BuyVM / Frantech
BuyVM is simply a part of Frantech. It’s a bit confusing to see two websites for the same company, but beyond that the services offered by BuyVM / Frantech are some of the best in the industry. They are definitely targeting the lower end VPS market. They offer free nightly backups and SSD drives for their OpenVZ clients, a service which you have to pay extra for from many other providers.
They also target users who need a backup VPS or a VPS which uses a large amount of hard-drive space. They have plans which offer an outrageous amount of hard-drive space for low costs.
Finally, they offer Microsoft Windows Server for KVM customer at no additional charge.
Though you order your VPS through frantech.ca you can view the VPSs they offer at buyvm.net.
Prometeus
Prometeus is a European based company. If you are looking for a VPS in Europe, specifically one in Italy they have great deals. They also tend to focus a bit more on the low end customers. They are a great choice for those looking to do business with a top VPS plan outside of the United States.
Take a look at the plans each of the above has to offer and see which VPS plan best fits your needs.
