Best premium game server hosting tested by gamers

The best premium game server hosting gives you a no compromise gaming experience. It can be fine to pick one of the cheaper game server hosts out there and that’s reflected in our look at the best game server hosting overall. However, sometimes you’re in a position to invest a lot more into your game server plans. That’s where the best premium game server hosting comes into play.

We’ve spent some time with all the best premium game server hosting below to pinpoint exactly why it’s worth paying the extra that each asks of you. Often providing hardware and features akin to the best dedicated servers with a focus on gaming, these are the kind of servers that are best if you have ambitious plans or you’re crowdfunding with your clan or guild mates. A premium game server is the perfect centerpiece for a growing community and you want the high quality of your group reflected in high-end hardware and fantastic reliability.

To that end, we’ve picked out all the best premium game server hosting. These providers tend to cost a little more than the average options but it’s worth the investment. As always, we’ve focused on key factors like RAM, vCPU, storage, and bandwidth, while appreciating you want something more high-end than most. We’ve focused on game server hosting which works with any game but due to it being a mighty behemoth, we’ve taken a moment to focus on Minecraft such is its never-ending charm and appeal.

Below, you’ll find all our favorite premium game server hosting choices so you can safely invest in something that’s built to last.

Best premium game server hosting 2024 in full

Best premium game server host overall

Scalahosting is a premium game server host in every sense of the word. Take a look at its Minecraft hosting solutions and you’ll see even the most inexpensive plan isn’t cheap. The basic plan (if you can call it that) offers 2 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, 80GB SSD storage space, and 4TB of bandwidth. The priciest plan increases that to 8 CPU cores, 32GB RAM, 640GB SSD, and 7TB of bandwidth. In all cases, there are 24/7 backups, 1Gbps Uplink Ports, a dedicated IP address, free domain, unlimited MySQL databases, and 99.9% guaranteed uptime. All storage is NVMe-based while there’s unlimited FTPS/SFTP access, and every mod pack possible.

In some ways, Scalahosting may not look worth the cost but the high-end hardware is what makes the difference here with superior storage, true DDR4 RAM, and an optimized build all ensure that you’re getting a lot for your money. Having dedicated system resources makes a difference here along with an automatic world check and repair tool, and even custom plugin ports. Scalahosting also promises that all machines are kept under 70% capacity so there are enough backup resources for peak traffic and a high amount of players throughout the day so it can cope with your growing (or already established) server.

Scalahosting’s control panel is fairly business-focused so there’s no fun gamer aesthetic here but it does mean it’s fairly clear to figure out what to do and where.

Some people won’t need the wealth of features that Scalahosting provides but if you’re serious about your server hosting needs, or you’ve found other options limiting, Scalahosting does the job well. It also adds on web server hosting capabilities and an email server so you can use the service for far more than just your game server needs. Customer support is speedy via live chat and a ticketing system, even if the knowledge base is a little lacking in depth in places.

Best for hardcore gamers

ApexHosting is designed for advanced users who already know what they’re doing. That’s clear from even its sign up process which has you setting up RCON passwords immediately, organizing your server branding, and other features that usually come along a little later in the process. That’s no bad thing for anyone seeking a premium game server host as odds are you know exactly what you’re doing. As you progress through the ordering process, fees can add up due to needing to add premium support and a dedicated IP separately but it does mean that you’re only ever going to pay the amount you need to rather than deal with unnecessary additional fees.

Apex Hosting has well distributed servers across the world with many locations catered for including the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Turkey, Germany, France, Israel, Japan, Singapore, and Australia so there’s something for everyone here. Diving into its control panel is a delight too as it’s truly advanced stuff with full server control. Even better, you can always see CPU/RAM activity no matter where you are in the web-based user interface.

Any time you do need guidance, the Apex Hosting Knowledge Base is easy to access with it highlighting commonly asked questions next to whatever section you’re on. There are tons of server version options for whichever game you play with dozens of games to choose from. Automated backups keep everything safe while there are video tutorials if you need additional support away from the 24/7 support service.

Each ApexHosting plan comes with unlimited player slots, dedicated live chat support, a one click pack installer depending on the game, and free server transfers. You’ll need to pay extra for a domain but a free subdomain is bundled in for free to start you off. If you want the ultimate hardware with ApexHosting, you can do so by signing up for its Ex Series plan which offers 4 dedicated vCores with either a Ryzen 9 5900X 4.8GHz processor in the US and EU or Ryzen 7 5800x 4.7GHz in APAC. It also utilizes NVMe SSDs and has 16GB of DDR4 RAM. A free dedicated IP and premium support are bundled in to further sweeten the deal.

Best for beginner

BisectHosting offers a wide variety of plans with it maxing out at 48GB of RAM for a high-end Minecraft server. All its premium servers use port 25565 -- Minecraft’s default port. It includes DDoS protection as standard for free while all its storage is NVMe-based. 20 different locations are available so it’s ideal for worldwide usage. Each server also comes with seven days of backups along with three custom backup slots so you can keep certain moments on your server safely secure. The Instance Manager makes it simple to switch between different modpacks or server types while playing Minecraft too. Adding to the Minecraft joy, there are over 2,000 modpacks ready through one-click installations.

For other games, BisectHosting continues offering all the essentials and more. Automated updates and backups are pretty much standard along with full mod support wherever possible. A custom control panel is also available and I was quite impressed at how simple it was to use. You can easily create instances for different games on the premium plan, picking and choosing what you’re monitoring with it always possible to see at a glance what the CPU and RAM usage is.

The BisectHosting control panel makes things about as simple as server management could which is why we strongly recommend it for beginners who want to invest in a long-term server plan. Promised instant setup is actually instant. My favorite feature is how there’s a Quick Console toggle on every part of the control panel. At the tap of a button, you can access the console and initiate commands without having to open a separate tab. It’s little things like that which make BisectHosting pretty welcoming. In our experience of it, BisectHosting support is pretty speedy too with a choice of either an online ticket or live chat, but no telephone support unfortunately.

If you’re new to game server hosting but going straight in with a premium plan, BisectHosting mostly ticks all the boxes and is generally more welcoming than a straightforward VPS solution.

Best value premium option

Scalacube is generally one of the best game server hosts. Curiously, it’s an affordable option but one that still has some great premium server plans too. If you simply want to check out the control panel interface, you can even do so without paying as there’s a free plan. Plans rank up to 32GB of RAM for Minecraft which is a little lower than others listed here but more than sufficient for the majority of needs. In all cases, you get unlimited slots, DDoS protection, plugin and mod support, along with full file access, a free domain, and backup system.

It’s incredibly simple to get started with Scalacube. Just pick your game and version and it takes seconds to start up, Once set up, there are typically many mods and plugins ready to deploy with Minecraft immediately offering over 1,000 modpacks.

For Minecraft, there’s full mod and plugin support but you can also edit all server files with FTP and upload mods and plugins as needed. There’s access to a full LAMP stack if you need it but the basic control panel is plenty sufficient for most needs. It brings up all the servers you own with it simple to see how hardware is performing with other options laid out in an intuitive fashion.

As you’d expect from a premium package, you can easily add on a dedicated IP or even create your own launcher for Minecraft. Branding opportunities are pretty good here for those developing a significant community. It all comes together to be intuitive, premium, yet surprisingly affordable.

Best premium US game server host

For US-based users, InMotionHosting is super speedy so it’s the perfect choice if your community is predominantly US-based. Focused on Minecraft means that it knows how to get things right on that front. It takes less than five minutes to start and we were impressed by its clear control panel. It supports unlimited plugins and mods with multiple server types possible here. Its control panel is more like those you’ll see via web hosting than gaming but it works well here for making it intuitive.

The hardware that is used is top-end with NVMe storage as well as Intel Xeon CPUs. To help you figure out what’s best for your needs, InMotionHosting provides a RAM recommendation guide based on what modpacks you plan on using. As a quick overview, each plan describes who it’s recommended for best. The top plan is best suited for over 100 players with everything from the middling plan upwards supporting all plugins and modpacks. Of course, if you plan on running many at once, you’ll need more RAM. The nice thing here is that it’s always clearly laid out so you won’t end up with the wrong plan for your situation.

With all server plans, you get fast NVMe storage and a dedicated IP address. There’s also full access to all your files, FTP access, and MySQL databases. 99.9% uptime is promised while you can potentially have as many players as you want on your server, although InMotionHosting is keen to point out what’s best for your plan. There’s also 24/7 server support. That’s primarily via tickets and live chat, but you can also talk on the phone during certain hours. That goes for whether you’re in the US or the UK. It’s a reliable option if you’re happy with solely US-based servers for your Minecraft plans.