UpCloud vs Contabo
A detailed comparison to help you choose between UpCloud and Contabo.
Quick Verdict
4.5/5
UpCloud
367 reviews
4.2/5
Contabo
420 reviews
UpCloud is rated higher (4.5 vs 4.2). Finnish cloud provider with proprietary MaxIOPS storage that consistently tops disk I/O benchmarks. Strong European coverage with 13 datacenters. 100% uptime SLA — they compensate if breached. German provider known for extremely large RAM allocations at very low prices. VPS S: 4 vCPU, 6GB RAM, 100GB SSD for ~€4.50/month. Popular in budget communities despite mixed performance reviews.
UpCloud MaxIOPS storage tops disk benchmarks consistently | Contabo Affordable VPS hosting with generous resources at predictable pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.5 (367 reviews)✓ | 4.2 (420 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | paid |
| Starting price | From €7/mo | From €4/mo✓ |
| Best for | Database-heavy applications in Europe where disk I/O performance is the primary bottleneck | Budget-conscious developers and startups needing reliable VPS infrastructure with generous specifications without enterprise pricing |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 4 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 6 GB |
| Storage | — | 100 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | 32 TB/mo |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.9% |
| Data-center count | — | 4 |
| €/vCPU/mo | — | €1.00 |
| €/GB RAM/mo | — | €0.67 |
| 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 | — | GermanyUnited StatesUnited KingdomAustralia |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | hourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotseu datacenterus datacenterapac datacentergdpr compliantapi accessprivate networking | nvme storageipv6ddos protectioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterwindows available |
| Visit UpCloud → | Visit Contabo → | |
UpCloud
Pros
- + MaxIOPS storage ranks #1 in disk benchmarks
- + 100% uptime SLA — they compensate
- + Strong European datacenter coverage including Helsinki and Warsaw
Cons
- - More expensive than Hetzner for equivalent specs
- - Fewer locations than Vultr
Contabo
Pros
- + Pack substantial CPU and storage allocations relative to cost
- + Choose between hourly and monthly billing cycles for flexibility
- + Access multiple global data center locations
- + Provide root/admin access for full server control
Cons
- - Support response times slower than premium competitors
- - Limited documentation and community resources versus larger providers
- - Standard uptime SLA (99.9%) may not suit critical applications
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