UpCloud vs BuyVM
A detailed comparison to help you choose between UpCloud and BuyVM.
Quick Verdict
4.2/5
UpCloud
0 reviews
4.1/5
BuyVM
0 reviews
UpCloud is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.1). Finnish cloud provider with fast MaxIOPS storage and 15 data centers. Starter cloud servers from EUR 3/month, with free outbound traffic. BuyVM (operated by Frantech Solutions) offers KVM VPS in Las Vegas, New York, and Roost (Luxembourg).
UpCloud MaxIOPS storage tops disk benchmarks consistently | BuyVM Frantech-operated VPS with DDoS protection | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ | 4.1 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | paid |
| Starting price | From $3/mo | From $2/mo✓ |
| Best for | Database-heavy European production workloads where disk I/O and a five-nines SLA matter more than raw compute price | Self-managed, bandwidth- and storage-heavy workloads — media servers, community platforms, backups, VPNs — where price per resource matters more than platform polish |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 1 vCPU | 1 vCPU |
| RAM | 1 GB✓ | 0.5 GB |
| Storage | 10 GB | 10 GB |
| Bandwidth | 1 TB/mo | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.999%✓ | 99.9% |
| Data-center count | 15✓ | 3 |
| €/vCPU/mo | €3.00 | €2.00✓ |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €3.00✓ | €4.00 |
| Performance | ||
| CPU score (sysbench) | 4,600 | — |
| Disk read (fio) | 2,800 MB/s | — |
| Disk IOPS (4K random) | 62,000 | — |
| Network out | 1 Gbps | — |
| Latency (TTFB) | 22 ms | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | Las Vegas, Nevada; New York, New York; Roost, Luxembourg |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | hourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotseu datacenterus datacenterapac datacentergdpr compliantapi accessprivate networking | nvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenter |
| Visit UpCloud → | Visit BuyVM → | |
UpCloud
Pros
- + Best disk performance in our benchmark set: 62,000 IOPS / 2,800 MB/s on a Helsinki Simple 2-2GB (2026-04-01)
- + 99.999% uptime SLA with 50x credit payback on Premium and managed products
- + Legible pricing: hourly billing capped at 28 days, zero-cost transfer, identical prices in all 15 DCs
- + Broad platform: managed databases, Kubernetes, S3-compatible object storage, GPU and Private Cloud options
- + European-first footprint (2x Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Frankfurt and more) with 24/7 in-house support
Cons
- - CPU value lags the budget clouds — our test showed 4,600 CPU score against Hetzner's 9,400 at lower cost
- - Backups are a paid add-on (10-40% of server price) and extra MaxIOPS disk costs €0.22/GB/mo
- - Plan-line reorganization (Simple to Starter/Premium/Cloud Native) plus announced price changes create continuity risk
- - Starter tier caps (5 deployments, 250 Mbit/s port, previous-gen CPUs) despite carrying an SLA
- - APAC coverage is Singapore and Sydney only; GPU and Private Cloud lines are too new for long-run track records
BuyVM
Pros
- + Cheapest serious block storage we track: $1.25/256 GB, $5/TB per month, hot-migratable slabs
- + Unmetered 1 Gbps bandwidth on every slice — no egress metering to model
- + Cheap, credible DDoS filtering at $3/month per IP (3.5+ Tbps pooled, Path.net-backed)
- + Real KVM with custom ISOs, full disk encryption, and a free DirectAdmin license
- + 16-year track record with a support reputation that outclasses the price point
Cons
- - Stock shortages on popular slices and locations are routine; no elastic scaling
- - Self-managed only — no managed tier, no object storage product, no autoscaling API
- - Only three locations (Las Vegas, New York, Luxembourg); no Asia-Pacific presence
- - Modest 99.9% SLA with application-layer floods excluded; credits handled via TOS
- - No downgrades, and nightly backups cost extra (10% of base price)
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