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Updated: Feb 13, 2024, 5:43am
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A dedicated server allows you to host your site on a server all your own, which can be a significant upgrade from shared hosting. The best dedicated hosting services offer fast processors, gigabytes to terabytes of memory and generous storage and data transfer to help ensure your site operates at its best. While you’re not likely to find a cheap dedicated server, that doesn’t mean there aren’t high-value plans available. To help you narrow down your search, we found the best dedicated server hosting providers on the market for February 2024.
Featured Partner Offer
1
Bluehost
On Bluehost.com’s Website
Starting price
$2.95 USD ($4.05 CAD) per month
Storage and bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth, and SSD storage starts at 10GB
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name and SSL for a year, free CDN
2
Hostgator
On Hostgator’s Website
Starting price
$2.75 USD ($3.68 CAD)per month
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, free website transfer
3
Namecheap
On Namecheap’s Website
Starting price
$1.58 USD ($2.15 CAD) per month (with 24 months contract)
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, host three sites, low-cost VPS hosting
4
DreamHost
On DreamHosts’ Website
Starting price
$2.59 USD ($3.47 CAD) per month
Money-Back Guarantee
97 days
Inclusions
Top-rated tech support, free domain name, free SSL certificate
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
We reviewed multiple services using a detailed methodology to help you find the 10 best dedicated hosting services for small businesses. Our ratings consider factors, such as transparent pricing, bandwidth, storage, uptime, server locations and customer reviews. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
99.9%
One*
2 GB to 6 GB*
99.9%
One*
2 GB to 6 GB*
MochaHost offers multiple dedicated hosting plans that are affordable and packed with features and extras, but its standout feature is a lifetime discount. If you choose a two- or three-year contract, you can get a 20% or 30% discount, respectively, for life. That shakes out to $38.03 CAD or $43.46 CAD per month, but you must pay in full upfront.
Not all plans are eligible for the forever discount, but even those low-cost plans are viable. The Altura-3 plan costs $54.33 CAD per month, regularly (the first month is discounted to $27.16 CAD) and includes one CPU core and 2 GB to 6 GB of RAM. Although the core allowance is very low for some plans, the pricing evens out the value—MochaHost is much more affordable than its competitors.
It isn’t easy to figure out exactly what MochaHost offers sometimes because the text-heavy language on its site is so full of marketing jargon. For example, its “Lightning Fast Guarantee” is essentially a CDN and the “NEVER Reboot Protection” is simply automatic updates for your server. Some of the extras you get with MochaHost include free SSL certificates, automatic snapshot backups, migration help and some plans to get a free domain for life.
All of MochaHost’s dedicated hosting plans come with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and seven-day money-back guarantee, though it’s prorated.
Who Should Use It:
As long as you’re ready to commit to two or three years of dedicated hosting, MochaHost is an excellent choice for a lifetime discount, lots of added features and excellent uptime and loading speed.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.9%
One*
1 GB*
99.9%
One*
1 GB*
IONOS by 1&1 gives new customers a bit of a bargain on managed and unmanaged dedicated server hosting. Low-priced plans range from $2 CAD to $40 CAD per month for unmanaged servers (SSD server comes with up to 640 GB storage, up to 24 GB RAM. Managed servers start at $32 CAD to $150 CAD per month, depending on SSD or HDD choice.
Despite the hike in price after the introductory term, monthly prices still stay low compared to competitors. You get a respectable set of features, too. The unlimited data transfer is limited to 1 GB speed, which means virtually no lag for your site visitors. IONOS’ dedicated servers top out at eight cores, though, so there’s a bit less power than other providers on the market. For example, InMotion Hosting offers up to 32 cores on its highest tier.
Learn More: Read our full IONOS review.
Who Should Use It:
As long as you don’t need generous storage for your sites, IONOS would be an excellent choice for your first dedicated server. It offers a cheap introductory rate with a fair amount of resources.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.9%
Eight*
30 GB*
99.9%
Eight*
30 GB*
InterServer is one of the most affordable options for dedicated hosting services, though it doesn’t quite beat MochaHost—InterServer’s lowest-priced plan costs $55 USD ($74.08 CAD) per month. It comes with 30 GB of memory, 1047 GB SATA storage and eight cores.
There are no setup fees if you choose InterServer for dedicated hosting. Plus, the web host offers free migration services, so you can move your site from another host seamlessly with help and at no added cost. Although InterServer is a good value for the cost, you won’t find low introductory rates for your first term like most of its competitors.
Who Should Use It:
InterServer’s low-cost dedicated server packages offer affordable and predictable pricing with generous resources, making it a good pick for anyone who needs a dedicated server.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.9%
Four*
8 GB*
99.9%
Four*
8 GB*
If you anticipate needing the help of support often, HostGator could be a good pick for your dedicated hosting needs. HostGator offers 24/7/365 support by phone and live chat. As far as dedicated servers go, you’ll have your pick between semi-managed or fully managed servers with 8 GB to 30 GB of RAM. The starter plan gives you 1 TB of storage, but on HDD. Bandwidth is unmetered but limited to 10 TB of data transfer.
HostGator isn’t by any means cheap dedicated server hosting, but it does offer low prices to start. To get the lowest price possible from HostGator, you’ll have to rely on a new customer discount and pay for three years of service in advance. The regular rate for the low-priced plan is about $89.98 USD ($121.27 CAD) per month for a three-year term. A month-to-month contract costs $159.99 USD ($215.63 CAD).
Who Should Use It:
HostGator offers fairly standard dedicated hosting services, but it also gives you 24/7 support via live chat or phone, so it’s a good choice for those who need help at all hours.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.999%
Four*
16 GB*
99.999%
Four*
16 GB*
InMotion Hosting caters to both developers and small businesses with unmanaged and managed dedicated server hosting. The introductory rate for unmanaged dedicated servers is $69.99 USD ($94.33 CAD) per month, if paid annually; a managed dedicated server starts at $89.99 USD ($121.28 CAD) per month for your first year, paid annually. It’s a pricey service, but we find that it’s still a solid value.
InMotion offers unmetered data transfer per month. The starting RAM is twice as much as most hosts, and you get four cores by default. Perhaps the most impressive feature of InMotion is its server uptime guarantee of 99.999%. (You might experience four minutes of downtime per month.) Most hosts only offer 99.9%, which could mean as much as 44 minutes of downtime per month.
Who Should Use It:
Considering the unmetered bandwidth and 16 GB of RAM for the lowest-priced dedicated server, InMotion is a good pick for anyone with a traffic- and resource-heavy website.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.99%
Eight*
8 GB*
99.99%
Eight*
8 GB*
Most dedicated hosting services offer unmanaged and managed servers (unmanaged servers cost a little less), but TMDHosting sticks to fully managed servers only. So, if you want to save a few dollars per month with an unmanaged server, choose one of TMDHosting’s competitors. If you want a managed solution, TMDHosting gives you a lot of assistance with your server.
The lowest-priced plan costs $79.99 USD ($107.83 CAD) per month and includes eight CPU cores, 1 TB of HDD storage and 8 GB of memory. There’s no cost for setup, and TMDHosting’s experts help with site migration, daily security audits, 24/7 monitoring and you get access to the support team at any hour.
You can take advantage of server management by having the TMDHosting staff take care of server updates and app and CMS installation. Not only is the support staff available around the clock, but there’s also a 15-minute response time guarantee. TMDHosting servers have a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
Who Should Use It:
If you don’t mind paying a higher cost for a fully managed server and you want round-the-clock support, TMDHosting could be a good solution for you.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
None
Four*
8 GB*
None
Four*
8 GB*
Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting services in the industry, so you may be using it now for your own web host. It offers a simple platform and partially managed servers, so it’s one of the most logical choices for beginners who want to move their sites from shared hosting to a dedicated server.
The standard plan costs $107.89 CAD per month, paid in full, if you agree to a three-year term. Otherwise, it costs $134.85 CAD per month annually (paid upfront), which is average for the industry. You’ll get four cores, 8 GB of RAM and 1 TB of HDD storage, which could be suitable for a small site. Bluehost offers unmetered bandwidth.
Bluehost gives you a little help with your dedicated server, such as with updates and maintenance, but you also get root access, so you can take control if you want. If you need more help, Bluehost’s support team is available 24/7 and dedicated server customers get dedicated and expedited help from experts.
Learn More: Read our full Bluehost review.
Who Should Use It:
Bluehost is an easy-to-use web host that provides partially managed servers, so it’s a good choice for beginners.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.9%
Four*
8 GB*
99.9%
Four*
8 GB*
SiteGround breaks from the pack of dedicated server offerings with its cloud hosting options. You can choose from one of four plans (starting at $100 USD ($134.75 CAD) per month) or you create your own plan with the specific resources you need. The Jump Start plan gives you four cores, 8 GB RAM, 40 GB storage (SSD) and 5 TB bandwidth.
To customize your plan, just use the sliders on the site to increase or decrease cores (up to 33), memory (up to 130 GB) and storage (up to 1 TB). Your bandwidth remains the same. Pricing goes up as you adjust cores, RAM and storage, of course. It’s worth pointing out that if your site gets some extra traffic, you can add more resources any time to support it.
Who Should Use It:
SiteGround is a good choice if you want to create your own plan with customized resources on a cloud server, or if you anticipate needing to up your resources on the fly.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
100%
Four*
4 GB*
100%
Four*
4 GB*
DreamHost isn’t the only web host to guarantee 100% server or network uptime, but it guarantees to reward you if or when it fails. For every hour your site is down, DreamHost will credit you for one day’s worth of hosting (up to 10% of the total renewal fee). The only downtime you should experience is during scheduled maintenance.
As far as the managed dedicated servers go, DreamHost is pretty average with a slightly higher-than-average cost. The entry-level plan ($149 USD ($200.79 CAD (per month, paid annually) gives you four cores, 4 GB RAM and 1 TB of hard drive space. The good news is that DreamHost doesn’t cap data transfer, so it’s essentially unlimited (though you may be asked to upgrade resources if there’s a strain). You have the option to increase your RAM at checkout, so it’s more customizable than most web hosts offer.
Who Should Use It:
Everyone wants their website to stay up all the time, but if uptime is the most important aspect of web hosting for you, DreamHost is a good choice.
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
99.9%
Four*
32 GB*
99.9%
Four*
32 GB*
GoDaddy is likely best known as a domain registrar, but as a web host, it has expanded what it offers over the years, including dedicated server hosting. It sets itself apart from competitors by giving you a choice of SSD or HDD storage for your server. An HDD server costs a little less ($196.99 CAD per month), but gives you 8 TB of storage while an SSD server gives you 1 TB of storage ($219.99 CAD per month). The advantage of the SSD server is faster processing for only $23 CAD more per month.
The only free add-on you get is an SSL certificate and only for the first year. Prices are high for GoDaddy servers, but you can get a discount if you agree to a long contract. Fully managed servers are even more costly ($359.98 CAD per month for HDD and SSD).
Learn More: Read our full GoDaddy review.
Who Should Use It:
The best reason to choose GoDaddy is for the storage options if you’re set on lots of storage (HDD) or speedy processing (SSD).
*Based on the lowest-cost plan
Among the many ways in which you can have a website hosted, dedicated servers provide resources specifically for your site, from storage to RAM to bandwidth, so you aren’t sharing with other customers. These allocated resources make it the most stable, secure and expensive method.
Dedicated server hosting is meant more for established businesses that need extra resources to maintain high page load speed and for more media on their sites. It also means you don’t have to worry about other sites suddenly taking up more of the resources on the server, which could induce lag on your own site (and for your site visitors). Some of the best web hosting for small businesses include dedicated hosting packages.
So, how do you know when you need to upgrade to a dedicated server? When you first create a website, you likely don’t have much of an internet footprint. Your site or brand probably doesn’t rank high on search engines, so you don’t get a ton of traffic. That’s why a lot of people start out with shared hosting and then upgrade to a virtual private server (VPS), which simply gives you more resources (but it’s still shared). When a VPS still isn’t enough, that’s when it may be time for you to upgrade to a dedicated server.
The cost of a dedicated server varies depending on the host you choose, whether you go with fully managed or unmanaged and whether you opt for cloud hosting. The best dedicated server hosting costs $150 CAD, on average, per month (billed annually). You can expect to pay about $25 CAD to $60 CAD more per month for a fully managed dedicated server.
Many dedicated server hosts offer discounts on the first month or if you sign a long-term agreement. Signing up for years in advance can be pricey and you’ll be locked into the same web host for a long time, but there’s also typically a longer money-back guarantee if you’re not happy at the start.
The benefits of a dedicated server may be worth the added cost, so you may not even need to read this section. If you’re on the fence and wondering whether it’s worth increasing your monthly cost tenfold, then you may want to keep reading to see what you’re getting with your own server.
A dedicated server gives you 100% of the resources instead of just a slice. With more storage, you can add more products, if you’re running an e-commerce website, which also means more photos and videos. On a shared server, you’re much more limited, but some of the best e-commerce hosting providers make it doable.
You’ll also get more bandwidth, which means your site visitors shouldn’t see lag when your site pages load. It also means you can accept more visitors at once without any slowdowns or interruptions. Shared servers typically limit this resource so that all clients on the server aren’t affected by traffic spikes.
You’ve likely seen web hosts boast 99.9% server uptime. That’s nearly 100%, so it has to be good, right? No server is going to be up 24/7. Web hosts have to perform maintenance, and so occasionally servers will be down. Hosts will tell you when the server will be down, and that downtime doesn’t count toward the guarantee.
However, if your server is down at any time other than the scheduled maintenance, you’re likely entitled to a portion of your monthly fee back. It’s a good idea to keep an uptime monitor running to either claim the money-back guarantee or see whether it’s worth moving to another host (if there’s too much downtime). After all, if your server isn’t up, no one can visit your site(s).
Another benefit to choosing dedicated hosting is that you can usually choose your server location. This is helpful if you study your site visitor data. If most of your site traffic originates in the Midwest of the United States, you may be able to choose a server in, say, Chicago. Being able to choose your server location can help with site load speed for site visitors.
Alternatively, look for a web host that offers a content delivery network (CDN), which mirrors your site on multiple servers throughout the globe. This cuts down on the time it takes to load your website for visitors that originate in another part of the world.
Most web hosts offer two options for a dedicated server: unmanaged or managed dedicated server hosting. An unmanaged, or bare metal, server costs less because the host doesn’t maintain the server for you.
Choose an unmanaged server if you don’t mind doing the work. You’ll install a control panel, maintain security, apply patches and maintain updates yourself. Go with a managed server if you want the web host to handle security and maintenance for you—this is a better option if you’ve never performed server maintenance before.
You may also want to consider using a virtual private network (VPN) to enhance security when logging in to your server. It’s especially helpful to use a VPN when accessing the internet over Wi-Fi. The best VPNs are affordable and easy to use on your desktop or a mobile device.
A classic HDD is a mechanical hard drive on which you store files. It’s a far cheaper option for personal computers and servers alike. However, an SSD is faster, offers better overall performance and uses less energy and power. So, it comes down to your needs. If you aren’t concerned about speed and want an affordable, large storage option, go with HDD. If price isn’t a concern and you don’t need as much storage, SSD is a better choice.
To choose the best dedicated hosting services, we surveyed the field of options and selected 13 companies to analyze. These competitors were scored on 17 criteria across five categories, which were weighted according to their value for small businesses.
Here are the criteria we considered for the best dedicated server hosting:
We looked at entry-level prices, add-on fees and whether a host offers lower pricing for annual payment. We also took into consideration whether the price goes up after an introductory period. In total, pricing accounted for 30% of the total score.
When upgrading from shared or virtual hosting servers, one should see an increase in storage, RAM and data transfer allowances. We also considered processors and the number of cores available. In addition, every web host should offer an uptime guarantee because having your site(s) online is imperative for any business—downtime equals potentially lost business. These features account for 20% of the scoring.
In addition to the essential features every dedicated server should offer, we looked at those that go above and beyond. Companies received bonus points for offering a free business email address, a content delivery network (CDN), and automatic backups. These bonuses make up 10% of the final score.
Sometimes, reviews can be telling or you take them with a grain of salt. We considered each host’s ratings on several review sites such as G2, Trustpilot, BBB and others and also factored in the number of reviews on each platform. These reviews cover 20% of the ranking.
Lastly, we factored in our expert analysis. Although not part of the numerical scoring, server location is important. We ensured each host has multiple servers available, even if you can’t choose your preferred server location. Unlimited or unmetered bandwidth is nice, but on a dedicated server, there’s typically a limit. It should be generous—at least 5 TB data transfer per month. These factors, in addition to each platform’s ease of use, account for the final 10% of the score.
Canadian specific editing and research (including pricing) conducted by Anna Rey.
Featured Partner Offer
1
Bluehost
On Bluehost.com’s Website
Starting price
$2.95 USD ($4.05 CAD) per month
Storage and bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth, and SSD storage starts at 10GB
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name and SSL for a year, free CDN
2
Hostgator
On Hostgator’s Website
Starting price
$2.75 USD ($3.68 CAD)per month
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, free website transfer
3
Namecheap
On Namecheap’s Website
Starting price
$1.58 USD ($2.15 CAD) per month (with 24 months contract)
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, host three sites, low-cost VPS hosting
4
DreamHost
On DreamHosts’ Website
Starting price
$2.59 USD ($3.47 CAD) per month
Money-Back Guarantee
97 days
Inclusions
Top-rated tech support, free domain name, free SSL certificate
The best dedicated server host offers flexible contract terms with reasonable rates and the ability to increase resources when needed. Forbes Advisor named MochaHost, IONOS and InterServer as the best among the industry.
There are multiple types of web hosting services, including shared hosting, virtual private servers (VPS), dedicated servers and cloud servers. Most websites use shared hosting, which is affordable and suitable for new sites. Upgrading to a VPS, dedicated or cloud server gets you more resources, but they cost more.
Dedicated hosting is as secure as any other type of server, but it requires maintenance to keep it safe. You can get a fully managed dedicated server to pay for maintenance and automatic updates, which should keep loopholes closed to hackers. Plus, extra security from secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates and hardware firewalls help.
The difference between dedicated hosting and VPS hosting is that with a dedicated server you don’t share any space on a server at all. A VPS server gives you essentially a slice of a server with dedicated resources for your site or sites, but you still have server neighbours.
If you choose an unmanaged dedicated server, you need to install and configure your operating system on the server and install the software you want yourself. You’ll also need to stay on top of any updates to your OS, content management system―(CMS) and other installations. Your server should give you monitoring tools, so you can assess whether your RAM and storage needs are sufficient. You should also be able to access activity logs to see who’s doing what and when on your server.
There is no universal answer to this question because web hosts offer servers with different specs—some have more or less RAM and storage. Generally, you should expect your dedicated server to handle around 20,000 to 30,000 daily site visitors.
Only you can answer this question. If your site, or multiple sites, are getting so much traffic that you’re regularly adding resources, then it’s likely worth it to upgrade to a dedicated server. However, there is a mid-level option to consider if you’ve outgrown shared web hosting. Consider the best VPS hosting services before choosing the more expensive option of dedicated server hosting.
A good benchmark to use in determining whether you need a dedicated server is 1,000 site visitors per month. If you’ve reached that amount of traffic or you expect to soon, you may want to invest in dedicated server hosting to prevent slow loading times, server crashes or extra fees for additional resources. If you’re a new business that’s just creating a website for the first time, you won’t need a dedicated server yet.
Dedicated hosting services are rarely described as cheap. You can find good introductory deals that may shave off 50% of the regular rate for your first year. However, regular rates tend to run $50 CAD to $200 CAD per month, and even higher for more powerful servers with loads of resources. If you’re looking for a more affordable option for your website, consider the best cheap web hosting services.
Amy Nichol Smith has more than 20 years experience as a journalist and editor, writing on a range of topics, including tech products and services, the gaming industry, and small business. She has been featured in Tom's Guide, L.A. Times, Business.com, Reader's Digest, and Investopedia. Her favorite tech product is a tie between her Roomba and gaming PC.
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