HostAdvice experts performed an independent study on the Best VPS providers for all types of users.
On this page we research which providers offer the best Windows VPS hosting services, we performed an independent study based on thousands of independent user reviews, tests, and surveys. But, if you don’t have the time to read the whole article, here is our selection of the top 5 best Windows VPS hosting providers.
if you want to cut to the chase and don’t have the time to read the entire article, here is our selection of the top Windows VPS hosting providers.
Short on Time? Check Our Top Windows VPS Hosting Providers
- Kamatera – Best Windows VPS Overall
- Ultahost – Best Windows VPS for Unlimited Bandwidth
- IONOS – Best Unmanaged Windows VPS Hosting
- InterServer – Best VPS Windows Provider for Security
The Best Windows VPS Hosting Services of 2023 (Bought and Tested):
Read on for detailed reviews of the Windows VPS hosts listed above.
If you are looking for a Windows-compatible, enterprise-grade VPS hosting provider, then Kamatera is the right solution for you. The provider has been around for 20 years and provides the best overall Windows VPS hosting plans at excellent prices!
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Performance: 5.0
- Security: 5.0
- Support: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.8
Kamatera is a top-tier VPS hosting provider that offers excellent services and is compatible with many operating systems. It is an ideal choice for all Windows users out there and supports Windows 10 Desktop 64-bit, Windows 8.1 Desktop 64-bit, and Windows 8.1 Desktop 32-bit!
Research Findings:
Performance: Kamatera offers high-performance servers that run on cutting-edge technology, including 600Gbit bandwidth, SSD drives, and Xeon Platinum/Cascade Lake processors. It offers an uptime guarantee of 99.95% and supports all Microsoft Windows Server versions and editions.
Security: Kamatera provides high-level security in all of its hosting plans, including its VPS hosting ones. It also allows users to add an extended daily backup service to their server specs.
Support: Kamatera offers 24/7 first-class customer service with ultra-fast response time. You can reach its customer support team via phone and email.
Features: Scalable resources, no hardware maintenance, root/administrator access, remove servers without paying a fine, use its proprietary API to set up servers & all other resources on-the-fly without being present, stop & restart your servers at any time, add as many databases as you want, and more!
Pricing: With Kamatera, you can customize your own server and choose the server type you prefer. Its prices start at $4/month for one vCPU core (Type A, 2667MHz), 1,024MB RAM, 20GB SSD Storage, and 5TB Internet Traffic for an Ubuntu Server 20.04 (LTS) 64-bit.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- A flexible pricing system;
- Excellent performance;
- Compatible with all Windows Server versions and editions;
Cons:
- Not as suitable for beginners as other VPS hosting providers (but offers a fully-managed option that you can get)
Ultahost is a powerful web hosting provider that offers all kinds of services, including shared, WordPress, Windows VPS, dedicated, and other types of hosting. What’s best, all of its Windows VPS hosting plans come with unlimited bandwidth!
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Performance: 4.9
- Security: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.9
Not many web hosts offer unlimited bandwidth. However, with Ultahost, you will get unlimited bandwidth no matter which Windows VPS plan you choose – the cheapest, the most expensive one, and everything in between!
Research Findings:
Performance: All Ultahost servers are optimized with an advanced cache by Varnis, Redis, and Memcached that enhances your website’s speed. Also, the provider offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and uses fast-paced SSD & NVMe Storage, the latest versions of Windows Server, and more!
Security: dedicated firewalls, free SSL certificates, Two-Factor authentication, BitNinja security, built-in database security, enterprise-grade DDoS protection that is always active, 24/7 proactive server monitoring, auto-healing, regular security patching, free daily backups, and more!
Support: Ultahost offers 24/7/365 support via live chat, email, and phone. It also offers fully-managed services, an extensive knowledge base, a ticketing system, support add-ons, and automated troubleshooting.
Features: Ultahost supports both Windows and Linux OS, multiple programming languages, including PHP 5-8, Perl, and Python, vertical scaling, RDP access, a built-in team collaboration feature, Floating IPs, user roles, a CDN add-on, HTTP/2-enabled servers, SSH & SFTP access, and more.
Pricing: Ultahost offers six Windows VPS plans, starting at $15.90/month for two CPU Cores, 2GB RAM, 50GB NVMe Storage, and managed services.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Unlimited bandwidth included in all plans;
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- Excellent security;
Cons:
- When purchasing a plan, you will have to pay a transaction fee (but the fee is only 3% of your total cost, which is a minuscule amount)
I don’t believe IONOS’ rating fairly represents its quality. While the host might not have the best reputation, its fully virtualized VPS with full root access and API is worth every dime.
- Overall Score: 1.5
- Features: 1.5
- Reliability: 1.8
- User-Friendly: 1.5
- Support: 1.4
- Pricing: 1.4
IONOS offers the best VPS servers with various options; you can choose from Linux or Windows, standard or memory-optimized VPS, optional Plesk web host, and several data centers around the globe.
Research Findings:
Features: 1-click WordPress install and WP Toolkit, SSL encryption, firewall management, DDoS protection, preconfigured email functionality, unlimited bandwidth, and optional backups.
Reliability: IONOS utilizes last-generation hardware, including Intel Xeon E5 processors and 100% SAN SSD storage for maximum availability and 99.99% uptime.
User-Friendly: You’ll benefit from an intuitive IONOS cloud panel, streamlining your VPS management.
Support: IONOS’ server experts are available 24/7 to solve your issue quickly, minimizing downtime.
Pricing: You can choose from monthly or annual billing terms, pre-paid and post-paid billing, and cancel anytime with a monthly period or after 12 months with a yearly term. IONOS’s VPS plans start at $2 per month for 1 vCore, 512MB RAM, and 10GB SSD.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Compatible with a variety of operating systems & administration tools
- Certified infrastructure with maximum security and a 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Easy administration with full root access and Plesk Obsidian management software
Cons:
- Acronis backups cost an additional fee
- Plesk costs an additional fee
- Registration is available from a limited number of countries
InterServer was founded in 1999. Since its foundation, it has expanded its services to include many top-quality hosting types and features. It is known among customers for its amazing customer support, advanced security features, and excellent VPS hosting. Additionally, it supports the Plesk control panel, which is the top choice among VPS Windows hosting users. Moreover, it keeps its customers safe and protected online with its custom InterShield protection and Inter-Insurance security features.
- Overall score: 4.4
- Features: 4.4
- Support: 4.3
- User Friendly: 4.4
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.4
Features: Among its numerous free and paid features, InterServer offers InterShield protection, Inter-Insurance, integration with over 450 apps, Windows Remote Desktop access, the Plesk control panel, Cloudflare CDN, free SSL Certificates, PHP, ImunifyAV, NodeJs, Atomicorp, Git, root access, free website migration, global content caching, and malware protection. However, we gave it a 4.4 score because it does not offer a free domain.
Support: InterServer offers 24/7/365 quick support. It is available via phone, email, ticketing system, Facebook chat, and live chat. However, many users have reported that support agents are often unavailable and unhelpful. Also, you need to buy at least four slices to get managed support, which is why we gave it a 4.3 score.
User Friendly: InterServer provides three different control panel options for its customers. More specifically, it provides the Plesk control panel, which is perfect for Windows VPS hosting users. However, its website is overloaded with elements, and it has an outdated design, which makes it hard to navigate. This is why we gave it a 4.4 score.
Pricing: InterServer provides cheap plans across the board. When it comes to Windows VPS hosting, the base price is $10 per month per slice. One slice gets you 1 CPU core, 2048 MB RAM, 30 GB SSD storage, and 2 TB bandwidth. However, we gave it a 4.5 score because you can only get managed support if you buy at least four slices.
Reliability: InterServer offers its users a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which means that it promises them minimal downtime or latency issues. Additionally, its VPS service uses the latest technology, and all of its servers use KVM, OpenVZ, Virtuozzo, and Hyper-V virtualization platforms, so that others on the same node cannot access your server. Also, it uses self-healing hardware, Cloudflare CDN, and its custom InterShield protection and Inter-Insurance. However, we gave it a 4.4 score because users have reported slower loading speeds.
Additional parameter – Server location: 4.7: It’s important to find a provider that has a data center close to your or your target audience’s location. The closer you are to the server your website is hosted on, the better your performance will be, with minimal downtime and latency issues. In InterServer’s case, it is a great choice for users that are located in the USA or in its vicinity because it has data centers in the US only. However, because it does not have data centers in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, we gave it a 4.7 score.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Plesk control panel
- Self-healing hardware
- SSD storage
- InterShield
- Free trial available
- Root access
- Cloudflare CDN
- Free SSL Certificates
- Some cryptocurrencies are accepted as payment options
- Data is stored on RAID-10 disks
- Free manual data backup
- Free DDoS protection
- Multiple OSs are supported
Cons
- Difficult to navigate
- Outdated web design
- Slow loading speeds
- No free domain
- Data centers only in the US
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
How Do We Rank and How You Should Choose Your Windows VPS Hosting?
- Server Uptime15%
- User Interface4%
- Server Management Tools5%
- Type of Hosting Service6%
- Customer Support10%
- Security11%
- Extra Hosting Features9%
- Pricing and Value for Money10%
- User Reviews30%
In order to provide you with professional and genuine rankings, we test specifically for each category we write about. Our hosting experts develop a list of factors that are relevant for the specific hosting solution we are ranking. Then, our experts perform independent performance tests on every provider that qualifies in the field that they are testing.
We assign a specific percentage of importance to each factor we are testing. Here are the factors that we tested and that you need to take into consideration when ranking and choosing the best Windows VPS hosting providers:
- Server Uptime (15%): Uptime of 99.95% or above, enterprise-grade hardware, SSD Storage, Cloudflare CDN, etc.
- User Interface (4%): Does the provider offer a simple user interface? Is the provider’s user interface suitable for beginners? Is it easy to navigate?
- Server Management Tools (5%): an easy-to-use control panel like cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, etc.
- Type of Hosting Service (6%): Does the provider offer managed Windows VPS hosting solutions? Does it provide unmanaged Windows VPS hosting solutions? Does it have both?
- Customer Support (10%): the technical knowledge and availability behind the support behind the VPS plan – preferably 24/7 support via live chat, phone, & email, guides, and tutorials.
- Security (11%): Does the VPS provider offer additional security features like daily backups, disaster recovery options, dedicated IP addresses, malware scans, constant server & network monitoring, etc.?
- Extra Hosting Features (9%): free migrations, free automatic security patches, free CDN, an easy-to-use control panel, domains, etc.
- Pricing and Value for Money (10%): Does the provider offer enough features in its plans? Does it include enough resources to cover your needs?
- User Reviews (30%): By reading independent user reviews written by individuals that have used a certain provider’s services, you can learn much more about the provider and see what kinds of experiences people have had with it.
What Is Windows VPS Hosting, and Who Is It For?
Windows VPS hosting is a hosting service that uses a Windows operating system to run its servers, thus delivering enhanced performance, security, reliability, and other features. A Windows VPS hosting plan will allow you to get your private resources on a server you share with others.
Windows VPS hosting plans are ideal for larger websites and for users who want to host multiple separate websites from one server. They can handle large amounts of traffic and allow you to scale your resources at all times. Windows VPS hosting plans are also suitable for up-and-coming businesses looking to grow quickly on the Internet.
Also, you should use Windows VPS hosting for specific Microsoft applications like Active Server Pages (ASP), develop your website with Microsoft FrontPage, or use the MS Access database. Windows VPS hosting is also ideal for businesses that use Microsoft applications like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., in their daily business.
Moreover, if you want to use features like ODBC database connectivity and ColdFusion, you can only do so with Windows hosting.
Windows VPS Hosting Pros and Cons
Now, let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages you can get with Windows VPS hosting!
Pros
- It runs on the operating system that most of us know and love – Windows. There is no doubt that Windows is the most popular operating system in the world. Many people are familiar with it and use it daily.
- It is fully compatible with Microsoft applications and tools. Suppose you want to use products like ASP.NET, Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL), Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Sharepoint, and any other Microsoft product. In that case, you have to get Windows hosting since it is the only hosting that is fully compatible with all of them.
- Windows VPS hosting comes with the Plesk control panel. Windows hosting uses the Plesk control panel, which provides an intuitive user interface and lets you create and manage multiple websites and domains, set up email accounts, and more. Plesk is also compatible with many content management systems (CMS) and is user-friendly and suitable for beginners.
Cons
- It is more expensive compared to other hosting solutions. Windows hosting plans come at a higher price than Linux ones. Providers need to buy Windows licenses to offer Windows hosting plans. However, the difference in prices is usually minimal.
- It can experience stability issues. Windows servers tend to experience difficulty handling many apps and tasks simultaneously without any interruptions. However, if you choose a good Windows VPS hosting provider, you can solve this issue easily.
Windows vs. Linux VPS Hosting
Windows and Linux are two different operating systems, and the main difference between them is that Linux is a free and open-source platform, while Windows is a private platform that can only be used with a license. Here are the remaining differences between the two platforms
- Cost – Hosting providers that run Windows servers have to pay for a license, making Windows hosting more expensive than Linux hosting. Linux is an open-source, free platform, so hosting providers do not have to pay for a license to provide Linux VPS hosting.
- Technology – Linux uses custom software and supports most programming languages. On the other hand, Windows uses Microsoft software and supports Microsoft ASP.NET. For example, Windows servers use MSSQL, while Linux ones use MySQL.
- Customizability – Website builders like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are built for Linux, making it much easier to use with Linux hosting. Even though they work with Windows hosting, they are harder to integrate and use.
Which Applications Require a Windows Server?
There are quite a few applications that you can only use with a Windows Server, including:
- ASP Classic – ASP Classic was developed by Microsoft. It is a server-side scripting language used for creating and running dynamic web applications. You can combine HTML pages, COM components, and script commands to build interactive web pages with it.
- ASP.NET – ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web application framework. You can use it to create websites and applications with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
- MSSQL (Microsoft SQL Server) – MSSQL is a relational database management system that supports a wide range of transaction processing, business intelligence, and analytics applications in corporate IT environments.
- MS Access (Microsoft Access) – MS Access is a database management system you can use to store and manage data. It is part of the Microsoft 365 suite and is ideal for business and enterprise users.
- Visual Basic Development – Visual Basic Development is a development tool that designs & modifies software, systems, and applications using Visual Basic and related ecosystems and programming languages.
- C# - C# is a general-purpose programming language that you can use to create programs, mobile apps, desktop apps, websites, games, cloud-based services, and more.
Best Windows VPS Hosting Services: Summary
Windows VPS hosting is an excellent solution for those who want to run specific Microsoft apps and programs. It offers excellent performance, enhanced security, and superb reliability that allows users to be online at all times and host high-traffic websites with little to no interruption.
This type of hosting is ideal for businesses and enterprises and is a common choice for such users. You can get managed or unmanaged Windows VPS hosting.
All in all, Windows VPS hosting is a powerful service that is excellent for those who want to run a Windows operating system and use Windows-specific apps and programs.