Best Minecraft Server Hosting Service Of 2022

Minecraft has come a long way since it was first released to the public in 2009. The sandbox-based game quickly became a popular favorite with gamers. It now has more 140 million players. You can play Minecraft solo or with other Minecraft builders.

One of Minecraft's most attractive features is the ability for large multiplayer games. However, if this is your preferred way to play, then you might consider getting a dedicated Minecraft server. Here's the reason: Using a dedicated server hosting service for Minecraft is similar to using a website host. You pay a monthly fee to use a vendor's servers, which can provide you with improved security, performance and ability to apply modpacks for customized multiplayer experiences. But with so many Minecraft hosting server options on the market, some better than others, you may want assistance in determining which is the best Minecraft server hosting option for you.

Which Minecraft hosting service will best optimize your Minecraft gameplay? Mojang offers Minecraft Realms, a subscription service that allows you to host your Minecraft server. It is available in 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. You may choose to use a third-party host that has sufficient bandwidth and control over the settings and configuration of your Minecraft world seed.

Below, we've reviewed some of the best Minecraft server hosting vendors, including Hostinger, Shockbyte and GGServers. We focused our review on service providers that offer 24/7 customer support and a variety plan options.

Continue reading: Best Web Hosting in 2022

How we chose the best third-party Minecraft server hosts It's important to note that we didn't explicitly "test" the Minecraft hosting provider options on this list. Instead, we constructed a competitive overview using a variety of factors including third-party ratings, and features offered by each company. We have also weighted the rankings of these companies by TrustPilot as well as the Better Business Bureau. We then divided them into two tiers using this data:

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. TrustPilot rankings include at least 1,000 user reviews. All of the top-rated vendors also claim they offer 24/7 support as well as modpack support.

Another option for Minecraft hosting (second tier). All these Minecraft host vendors have TrustPilot Ratings of 4.0 or higher; however, these ratings are based upon less than 1,000 user reviews. One -- Nodecraft -- has a D+ rating from the BBB. The others have either As or higher, or no BBB page due to location.

Important caveats. The Better Business Bureau is not affiliated to any government agency. They do not rate companies outside North America. Companies must pay a fee to become BBB Accredited. TrustPilot also offers a paid tier which allows companies to interact with their users ratings. It also removed 2.2million fake reviews in 2020.

A note about pricing: We made every effort at last publication to ensure that prices are correct. Prices in this category can fluctuate frequently and are often subject to limited offers and special deals. Many of the prices are indicative of monthly rates if you prepay 12 months of service or have limited-time introductory pricing. To confirm pricing, please contact the vendor concerned.

Best Minecraft server hosting services

Hostinger

Minecraft server hosting starting at $7 a month

Hostinger is one our top web hosting providers. They offer five different Minecraft hosting plans. All plans include mod support as well as full root access, DDoS attack protection, MySQL automated backups, and 99.9% server uptime. Multicraft control panels, Minecraft dedicated servers, Modpacks & plugins, low latency, and a Tier-3 data center that is globally connected to Minecraft server locations make Minecraft hosting a great choice. Pricing differences can be attributed to different RAM/vCPU hardware options. Prices start at $2GB RAM, two vCPU Hardware, and go up from there to $78 per month for 16GB RAM, eight vCPU and four vCPU Hardware.

Hostinger is not listed on the BBB because it is based in Lithuania. The organization focuses exclusively on US-based businesses. It does have a TrustPilot rating at 4.3 out of 5, with more than 7,000 reviews.

See at Hostinger

MCProHosting

Minecraft server hosting starting at $9 a month

MCProHosting offers nine Minecraft server host plans, ranging from $9 a month for 1GB RAM and 25 player slots to $100 a month for 32GB RAM and unlimited player slots. Every plan comes with unlimited storage space, worldwide server locations, DDoS protection, and unlimited storage.

MCProHosting has a big advantage: You can test out one of its "Villagers", or the step up "Witch", plans, for just $1 for the first 30 days.

MCProHosting has an A- rating from the BBB, and a TrustPilot rating of 4.8 out of 5 with more than 5,000 reviews.

Check out MCProHosting

Shockbyte

Shockbyte is a game server provider, offering 12 different Minecraft server hosting plan options, along with the ability to design a custom plan. Prices range from $2.50/month for 1GB RAM and 20 slot (the number of available spaces on a Minecraft server) to $40/month for 16GB RAM. All plans include 100% Uptime, DDoS Protection, Instant Setup, and a Free Subdomain Name.

Shockbyte is located in Australia so it doesn't have a BBB page. However, it has a TrustPilot rating 4.6 out of 5, with more that 5,000 reviews.

Shockbyte - See it!

GGServers

Minecraft server hosting starting at $3 a month

GGServers offers ten different Minecraft server hosting plans, each of which come with the option for standard or premium (which doubles the price).
Minecraft servers

Standard plans offer DDR4 2133MHz RAM, 3.2-4GHz processor, and 400MBps write/read SSD. It also costs an extra $2 a month to add on a MySQL database, or unlimited slots. You won't have access to all nine server sites. 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 plans include a free subdomain and DDoS protection. Standard plans range from $3 a month for 1,024MB RAM and 12 player slots standard (or $6 a month premium) to $96 a month for 32,768MB RAM standard (or $192 a month premium).

GGServers is based in Canada and does not have a BBB page. It does have a TrustPilot rating, 4.5 out of 5, and more than 2,000 reviews.

See at GGServers

ScalaCube

Minecraft server hosting starting at $2.50 a month

ScalaCube is another game-specific hosting vendor. There are nine paid plan options ranging from $2.50 a month for 768MB RAM, 3.4GHz 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 $0 a month for a basic server to $96 a month for 600 players. All Minecraft and Minecraft Pocket Edition plans include multiple server, backup, DDoS Support, and free web hosting.

ScalaCube, which is based in Estonia, does not have a BBB profile. It does have a TrustPilot rating at 4.4 out 5 with over 2,000 reviews.

ScalaCube is available for viewing

Other unofficial Minecraft hosting options to consider 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 4.3 out of 5, though it has fewer than 1,000 reviews.

See all Hostwinds plans

BisectHosting BisectHosting provides 20 different plans with the option of a budget and a premium package. Budget packages start at $3 per month for 1,024MB RAM, unlimited SSD and up to 12 slots. Prices go up to $95.68 per month for 32.768MB RAM or 160 slots. Premium plans range from $8 a month to $159.68 a month, with the same amounts of RAM as their budget counterparts but with more locations, and free daily backups, modpack updates, sponge installation, dedicated IP address and unlimited slots. BisectHosting has a F rating from the BBB. However, it also has a TrustPilot rating of 4.5 out of 5 with more than 3,000 reviews.

Check out all BisectHosting Plans

Apex Hosting Apex Hosting provides Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition servers starting as low as $7.49 per month. It also comes with a seven-day money back guarantee. Apex Minecraft Hosting is rated A+ by the BBB and has a TrustPilot Rating of 4.8 out 5 despite having less than 500 reviews.

View all Apex Hosting plans

Nodecraft Nodecraft also offers Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition server hosting, starting at $6.49 a month. Nodecraft is rated BBB with a 4.

See all Nodecraft plans

Sparked Host Sparked Host offers game and cloud hosting, with 13 different Minecraft server hosting plan options, starting at $1.50 a month. Sparked Host, though it is based in the US does not appear to have an BBB page. It does have a TrustPilot rating of 4.7 out of 5 with more than 1,000 reviews.

See all Sparked Host plans

PebbleHost PebbleHost houses Minecraft and other gaming and dedicated server services. It offers a variety of plans starting at $1 perGB per month. PebbleHost is located in the UK, and does not have an BBB page. However, it has a TrustPilot rating at 4.8 out 5 with over 2,000 reviews.

See all PebbleHost plans

RAMShard RAMShard offers nine Minecraft server hosting plans, starting at $3 a month. It has an A+ BBB rating and is BBB accredited, and has a TrustPilot rating of 4.2 out of 5, though with fewer than 500 reviews.

Check out all RAMShard Plans

CNET's Dawnthea Price Lisco contributed to this report.

More expert web tips

Best Website Builders

The Best Password Managers in 2022

Best VPN Service of 2022

Best Identity Theft Protection and Monitoring Services of 2022

Best iPhone VPN of 2022