For greater control over how the back-end of your website is set up, VPS hosting is an option to consider. A VPS (virtual private server) is a virtual machine, which is a software emulation on a computer, on a server. A hosting provider leases virtual machines on its servers and each is assigned an amount of bandwidth, processing power, RAM and storage space from the server hardware. It's also up to you to choose an operating system (usually from a selection of Linux distros that are offered by the hosting company). The result is better performance for your website when it's hosted on a VPS hosting plan. Among them, A2 Hosting offers VPS hosting plans at low prices. It has a variety of configuration options to customize them for your website's needs.
Best Deal Overall: A2 Hosting
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A2 Hosting offers three VPS configurations: Entry, Mid and Elite. Entry runs a single-core processor with 512MB RAM, 20GB storage, and 2TB bandwidth. Mid runs a single-core processor with 1GB RAM, 30GB storage, and 2TB bandwidth. Elite uses a four-core processor with 1GB RAM, 50GB storage, and 2TB bandwidth. All storage is RAID-10 on SSD. You can customize any of these plans by upgrading its bandwidth, memory, processor, or storage; and you can choose from the following server locations: Amsterdam, Arizona, Michigan, and Singapore.
All plans include one dedicated IP address and a software installer (Webuzo) to help you set up software on your VPS. Six Linux distributions are available for installation, such as CentOS (Versions 6 and 7), Debian (6 and 7) and Ubuntu (14.04 and 16.04). SolusVM is included to help you manage your VPS. cPanel costs an optional $19.95 per month, but is not available for the Entry plan.
Price Specifics: Entry is $5 per month. Mid is $10 per month. Elite is $15 per month. These rates are for one year prepaid upfront, and go up if you choose to upgrade resources. A2 Hosting offers an anytime money-back guarantee.
Best with Customization: Namecheap
Namecheap offers only two VPS configurations. The Pulsar configuration runs a dual-core processor with 2GB RAM, 40GB storage, and 1TB bandwidth. The Quasar configuration runs a four-core processor with 6GB RAM, 120GB storage, and 3TB bandwidth. All storage is RAID-10 on SSD. You can customize either plan by upgrading its bandwidth, memory, or storage.
All plans include dedicated IP addresses (one for Pulsar; up to two for Quasar) and domain registration for one year. Three Linux distributions are available for installation: CentOS (Version 7), Debian (8 and 9), and Ubuntu (14.04, 16.04 and 18.04). cPanel costs an optional $11 per month for either plan.
Price Specifics: Pulsar is $11.74 per month. Quasar is $19.66 per month. These rates are for one-year prepaid upfront, and go up if you choose to upgrade their resources. Namecheap offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Best with Unlimited Web Traffic: 1&1 IONOS
1&1 IONOS offers five VPS configurations. The first runs a single-core processor with 512MB RAM and 10GB storage. These features scale up across the other plans. The fifth plan runs a six-core processor with 12GB RAM and 240GB storage. Processors are Intel E5 Xeon, and storage is on SSD SAN. All of these plans allow for unlimited web traffic. You can choose from the following server locations: Germany, Spain, U.K. or U.S.
All plans include one dedicated IP address, email, and SSL certificate. Three Linux distributions are available for installation: CentOS (Versions 6 and 7), Debian (8 and 9) and Ubuntu (16.04 and 18.04). All plans include a KVM console cloud panel to help you manage your VPS. Plesk Onyx is an optional $5 per month, but this management software is not available under the first VPS plan.
Price Specifics: These five plans cost from $2 to $40 per month. The rates are billed under a month-to-month cycle. They come with an anytime money-back guarantee.
Best with Most Dedicated IPs: WebHostingBuzz
WebHostingBuzz sells eight VPS configurations. The first runs a single-core processor with 1GB RAM, 20GB storage, and 250GB bandwidth. These features scale up across the other plans, with the eighth runs an four-core processor with 8GB RAM, 160GB storage, and 2TB bandwidth. All storage is RAID-10, but it's on HDD.
All plans include dedicated IP addresses: one for the first two, up to two for the next three plans, and up to four for the others. Seven Linux distributions are available for installation, such as CentOS, Debian, and Ubuntu. SolusVM is included to help you manage your VPS. cPanel costs an optional $13.95 per month, but this management software is not available under the first plan.
Price Specifics: These five plans cost from $6.25 to $49.96 per month. These rates are for one-year prepaid upfront. WebHostingBuzz offers a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Best with IPv6 Support: Hostinger
Hostinger sells six VPS configurations. The first runs a single-core processor with 1GB RAM, 20GB storage, and 1TB bandwidth. These features scale up across the other plans. The sixth plan runs an eight-core processor with 8GB RAM, 160GB storage, and 8TB bandwidth. All processors are listed as the latest Intel Xeon, and storage is RAID-10 on SSD.
All plans include one dedicated IP address and IPv6 support. All plans include a VPS management control panel. Five Linux distributions are available for installation, such as CentOS (Versions 6 and 7), Debian (Versions 7 and 8) and Ubuntu (12.04, 14.04 and 16.04).
Price Specifics: These six plans cost from $4.95 to $45.95 per month. These rates are for one-year prepaid upfront. They come with a money-back guarantee within 30 days.
Best with Renewable Energy: GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks sells five VPS configurations. The first runs a single-core processor with 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, and 1TB bandwidth. These features scale up across the other plans. The fifth plan runs a 6-core processor with 16GB RAM, 200GB storage, and 8TB bandwidth. All processors are listed as Intel E5 Xeon, and storage is RAID-10 on SSD.
All plans include a VPS management portal tool. cPanel costs an optional $2.95 to $11.95 per month. GreenGeeks also makes it a point to host its servers with renewable energy, so if that's of interest to you, this is the plan to get.
Price Specifics: These five plans cost from $5 to $80 per month. The rates are billed under a month-to-month cycle. They come with a money-back guarantee within 30 days.
Bottom line
For greater control over setting up the server used by your website, VPS hosting is an option you should consider. You choose or modify a virtual machine with pre-configured server resources that are assigned for your website to use. Several of the major hosting providers sell VPS hosting, and A2 Hosting offers certain things for this type of hosting that stand out.
A2 Hosting sells only three VPS configurations, but you can add more bandwidth, memory, processors or storage to them. You can choose where your server is located in (Asia, Europe or the U.S.). A dedicated IP address and a software installer are included, and there are six Linux distros that you can choose from to install on your VPS. With all these features for $15 or less, A2 Hosting offers a great deal if you're looking into using VPS to host your website, don't want to spend a lot on this initially, or are starting out learning to use VPS.